Love in Danger?
by riddo123
Summary: The River Boys are furious that Brax has left the gang, and are determined to find out why... could this have dire consequences for Charlie and Brax's love affair?
1. Chapter 1

**This is mine and my friends' first Fan fiction... please review, but go easy on us hahah thanks :)  
><strong>

**Brodie's POV**

"Why hasn't Brax been around with the boys?" I ask "and why has he left Heath in charge? He can't be in charge of anything! He's gunna put all of us and himself in jail... We need Brax!"

"We should definitely find out what or who has gotten in his ear... There's got to be someone." Riley says to me as we walk into the diner. The old braud from the caravan park sees us, and I smile and wave, but as usual she turns and runs. No one even bothers to take our order, and after twenty minutes of lousy service, we leave, and as we do, I explain to him my plan.

"I know exactly how to handle this"

**Charlie's POV**

As I lay here with Brax, I can't shake this fear, this feeling of uncertainty of whether what we're doing is right or if it's just plain wrong. But as he puts his arm around me, I have to wonder, how could something wrong feel so right?

Out of my daydream I glare at my watch, noticing that I'm going to be late for work. I give Brax one last kiss as I prepare to leave in my police uniform. "Meet me at Angelo's tonight after we close at 10?" he asks as I make my way towards the door.

I agree and kiss him one last time before I leave. As soon as his front door opens, I become Sergeant Charlie Buckton again, here only on police business. I look at him and say nothing as I make my way towards the car.

Coming up the street I see Brodie, one of the river boys, heading towards the Braxton house, hands in his pockets, eying me suspiciously. "Afternoon Brodie" I say, and he looks away, heading straight up the driveway without looking back.

**Brax's POV**

I walk to the fridge and drink some orange juice out of the bottle, and am shocked to see Brodie standing in the doorway with a suspicious look on his face.

"What'd the cop want?" he asks me suspiciously. "Anything I can help with?" he asks as his face of suspicion turns to a smirk as he clenches his fists together.

"Nahh mate, I got it covered" I reply with a grin on my face.

"What do you want Brodie? Why are you here? I don't have time for you, I got somewhere to be" I say in the hope that he will leave, but he is not as convinced as I had hoped.

"Just wanted to talk about this Heath business, but if you don't have time for me, then I guess you don't have time for the river boys either."

I advance on him, forcing him out the door, closing it behind me. "Nahh, I told you Brodie, I'm out. Now why don't you get outta here?"

"See that's the part I don't get. Why you got out at all. Does the cop know you're out? Because if she's onto us, you'd better not rat us out just because you're not one of us anymore'

"I might be out, but I'd never put you guys in it. You know that"

Brodie jumps in front of me, looks me dead in the eye, and says, "Do we?"

Neither of us said anything for a moment. We just held each other's glare, until I finally had to look away. "Look, I got stuff to take care of. So, if you wouldn't mind..." after a moment's hesitation, Brodie stepped aside.

I get in my car and after a few minute's drive I arrive at Angelo's, ready to help out with the dinner shift. The time seems to fly buy as we have almost the whole town in for dinner or getting deliveries. Before I know it, the doors are closed, 10 o'clock has arrived, and Charlie along with it. I pull her towards me and show my affection by kissing her passionately.

**Who is watching Charlie and Brax's secret rendezvous, and what will they do about it?**

**Who helps Brodie with his plan to win Brax back?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Brodie's POV:

_Hours Earlier..._

I leave the Braxton house after watching Brax drive away, just like he walked away from the boys.

"this isn't over" I mumble to myself, more determined than ever to find out what's going on, or who's gotten in his ear.

I decide once I reach my house that I will confront him once again.  
>"How'd it go with Brax?" Riley asks as I walk into the house.<p>

"Not good, but I'm going to meet up with him later tonight" I reply.

"If he thinks he can walk away from the boys that easily, he's got another thing coming" riley says as I push him out of the way so I can reach the fridge. I'm starting to get sick of him heating all my food.

Time passes, and I decide it's time to make my way over to Brax at Angelo's, since now it is closed, and I know that he will be closing up.

As I am coming up the stairs to Angelo's, I hear a familiar female voice, but can't figure out who it is. So I creep up the stairs slowly, just enough to be able to see into the restaurant.

There, between the bar and who I know to be Brax, is that dam cop, the one that's been hanging around us so much... Sergeant Buckton.

I contemplate making my presence known, but I decide to avoid his pathetic excuses, and as I walk away, the beginning of a revenge plan. How dare she come between Brax and his boys!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Charlie's POV**:

I wake up abruptly to a phone ringing, and for a moment I forget where I am. The phone stops, I hear Brax's voice, and it all becomes clear to me.

After a few minutes of talking, it goes silent, and Brax re enters the room.

"Hey you" Brax says to me with a smile on his face "Sorry if the phone woke you".

"No" I lie, sitting up in the bed, "it didn't wake me up". I smile back at him, but he looks away, almost shyly. "Who was on the phone?" I ask, but the atmosphere from the previous night has already changed, and Brax has gone quiet.

"Nobody important", he says, picking up a shirt and pulling it on. "But, listen, I have... some things I have to take care of..."

"Oh, okay, well I'll go then, I was going to meet up with Ruby for coffee anyway" I say as I reach for my shorts.

As I do, Brax comes over to me, and kisses me on the forehead. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'll catch up with you later." Quicker than I thought he would, he heads out the door, winking at me as he goes.

I take my time getting ready to leave because I'm extremely early for my coffee date with Ruby... I thought I would have more time to spend with Brax... eventually, I think I am ready to go. I scan the room one last time to make sure I haven't left anything behind, and I leave.

I walk down the footpath towards the diner, because I didn't bring a car with me. The walk from Brax's motel to the diner is quite a long one, so I pace myself, walking slowly, just taking in the fresh air, but then I get a weird feeling that I'm being followed. I stop, look around for a minute, see no one, and continue onwards. Weird... I think to myself. I try to shake the feeling but I can't, and it lingers, forcing me to walk faster than I'd originally planned. A car drives' by, slowly, and disappears around a corner. The road seems to stretch on forever, but eventually I reach the end and turn the corner, only to see the car that drove past me previously, parked halfway up the street. As I near it, I cross to the other side, and my pace becomes synced with the quickness of my breathing. I pass the car and see no one inside it, but sill I can't shake the uneasy feeling.

Before I know it, I am grabbed from behind and dragged along the footpath. I kick and struggle against the arms locked around me, but they are just too strong. I yell for help, but in vain, for soon I am forced into the trunk of the parked car. All I can hear is my breathing, rapid and frantic, even as I bang on the roof of the trunk, hoping for someone to hear. But then I feel the vibration of the engine roaring to life, and the car driving off down the road. All I can think of at this point are three things: 1. Ruby waiting for me at the diner, 2. Brax, 3. how whoever is driving the car is definitely going over the speed limit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, thank you soooo much for the kind reviews! Hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint **

**Brax's POV:**

I walk into Angelo's. The place is already crawling with people, but amongst all the faces, one stands out, annoyingly. Tegan sits at a booth away from the bar, away from everyone. She smiles at me as I approach, but all I feel is anger, because as she always seems to, she has come between Charlie and I. Instead of spending the day with the girl I love, im having to meet with her to sort out HER problems...again!

"What do you want this time?" I ask her, standing beside the booth.

"Just to – "

"Aren't you with Jake now?" I continue. "Again? Shouldn't you be bothering him with whatever problems you're having?"

"I thought I'd just go to one of my oldest friends for help." She said, "Because I thought that just maybe, he'd be willing to hear me out?"

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong didn't ya? Because I really couldn't care less, aye"

"Please Brax –"

"No Tegan, I'm sick of cleaning up your mess all the time, alright? Go bother someone else for a change."

We share a moment of silence, staring at one another, me with contempt, and her with hope. It's eventually broken by her phone beeping. She checks it, and slides out of the booth.  
>"Fine," she says, with half a smile. She walks out without another word, and I am just fine with this.<p>

After my meeting with Tegan I decide to surprise Charlie at her coffee date with Ruby. I drive down to the diner thinking about the smile that will be on her face when she sees me.

I walk into the diner and scan the room. To my confusion, Ruby is sitting at a table in the corner on her own. She looks at me, and is just as confused to see me. I approach her.

"Hey Rubes, where's Charlie?" I ask as I join her at the table, " I thought she was having coffee with you this morning?"

The look of confusion on Ruby's face turns to worry.

"Well she was, and she isn't answering her phone...i just thought she was with you?"

"No, I haven't seen her since she left my place to come here this morning...she should be here by now". A sudden wave of concern rushes over me. Where could she be?

"Don't worry about it Rubes, I'm sure everything's fine", I say to her with false sincerity...deep in my gut, I know something is wrong.

I try calling Charlie for what seems like the 100th time, but still there's no answer. I walk up to the front door of Leah's house and, just as I'm about to knock on the door, it swings open, and Leah stands before me.

"Oh, hey Brax," she says with genuine surprise. "Charlie's not here right now".

"She's not?" I ask, "Well do you know where she might be?"

"I thought she was having coffee with Ruby? Look I'm in a hurry; you should try the diner..."

"Okay..." Leah slams the door shut and pushes past me. "Sorry to bother you." She says nothing.

I stand alone at the door wondering where I should look next, but before I have a chance to think, my phone beeps. It's a message from Charlie. Thinking that she's finally about to put my mind at ease and tell me that she's okay, I rush to read what it says

the sender of the message is Brodie, I am a little disappointed.. I really wasn't in the mood for what he had to say, but I thought I may as well get his issues out of the way so I could focus on finding Charlie. I open the message, and read...

"_I know your secret Brax, and now I know why you wanted to keep her a secret... she truly is beautiful... meet me at the diner in 2 hours, and we'll discuss my terms... and if anything happens to me, or you try something funny... she will die!"_

I stare at the phone, and a wave of emotion rushes over me... fury, terror, worry... I am now more determined than ever... I will get her back. I walk away from Leah's house and try to think of what I can do to get her back...


	5. Chapter 5

**Charlie's POV:**

The drive is a long and bumpy one. I continually bang on the trunk and yell for help, but it turns out to be useless. Finally, after what seems to be forever, the car stops, and the engine turns off. My cop instincts kick in, and I realise that the only way I am going to get out of here alive is if I make a run for it now.

As quickly as I can, before they come to open the boot, I search around for something heavy, to use as a weapon. I find a tire iron, just in time for the boot to open, and I am surrounded by a group of people. One of which is a familiar face...Brodie. Without thinking, I begin to get out of the boot while swinging the tire iron, trying to hit anyone and everyone I can.

But there are too many of them to. Before I know it the iron is taken from my hands, and I am defenceless. They advance towards me. I am pushed to the floor, hitting my head on something hard, and then it all turns black.

I wake up, feeling dizzy and nauseous. My head is throbbing. For a minute, I forget what has happened. Until I realise...

I slowly sit up, which is hard because of the pain coming from my head and stomach. I look at my surrounding... on two sides of the room there are boxes packed up to the ceiling. The side opposite to me is completely bare, except for the door. On the wall behind me there is a window. I look out of the window and see grass, trees and a dirt road. I don't recognise anything... I look around for my bag, but it is nowhere to be found, but then I remember I have my phone in my back pocket.

I get it out and look at all of the missed calls and texts from Ruby and Brax. Hazily, I begin to call Brax, because I know that he will be able to help me. But just as I go to press call, I hear someone at the door. I quickly put the phone back into the pocket, and lay down.

Brodie and Riley come into the room, closely followed by Tegan... I am not at all surprised that she had something to do with this.

"Well well well" Brodie says to me with a smirk on his face, "Sergeant Buckton..."

I stare at him and say nothing. I look at Tegan. She's smiling, and is quite pleased with herself. "Where's your boyfriend?" she asks, trying to engage a response out of me, "not coming to save the day? Oh what a shame!" she says with her grin now bigger than ever.

I still say nothing, hoping that once they realise they will get no response from me, that they will leave. Annoyed at the lack of response from me, Brodie slaps me before leaving the room, followed by Riley and Tegan.

I lay down on the cold hard floor for just a moment. My head is spinning,and i cant tell if im bleeding or not. Sharp pains are coming from my stomach and all i want to do is fall asleep. I get out my phone from in my pocket and call Brax...

**Brax's POV**

I'm at Roo's house talking to Heath about what to do. I have half an hour before I need to meet Brodie and I still have no plan. My phone rings, expecting it to be Brodie; I take it out of my pocket, and am shocked to see the caller ID...CHARLIE!

"Charlie?" I say with worry, "are you okay Charlie? Have they hurt you? Where are you?"... I fire questions into the phone but I don't get a response.

"Charlie?"

I listen for a minute and hear the faint call of my name... its Charlie... she doesn't sound good...

"Help...Brax" she says to me with a sickly tone of voice.

Hearing how bad she sounds almost breaks my heart. "Where are you? I'll come and get you!" I say, hoping that I get the response I need.

"Trees...grass...dirt road... Brodie, Riley and..." the phone cuts out, and I can't hear the rest...

"Who else Charlie? Who else?" I say with anticipation.

"Tegan..."

Finally I put it all together. The phone call this morning, the meeting at Angelo's, the text on her phone which made her so happy to leave without my help... she never wanted my help... she just wanted me away from Charlie... she was in it all along!

She is going to pay for this... they all are!


	6. Chapter 6

**Brodies POV:**

Things are getting intense. It's almost time for our meeting with Brax. I tell riley to get off of the couch, and we head towards the door, until an annoying voice in the back of my head starts asking all these stupid questions. And then I realise it's actually Tegan.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asks. "Am I supposed to stay here?"

"Got it in one," I say. But still she follows us.

"You can't leave me alone with her! What if she comes to?"

I realise that this is a valid point...before we leave, I go into my room and grab a belt, and hand it to Tegan. "Tie her to a chair or something."

"Brodie, I –"

Riley and I are out the door before she can say anything else. We take off, heading straight for the diner.

"How are you gunna go about talking to Brax?" Riley asks me... "Won't he just try and beat the location out of us?"... Just as I thought riley was growing brains, he says something stupid...

"If he wants to save his dirty little secret, he will do exactly what we want"... I reply with impatience.

"And... um... What do we want?" he says... just as I thought he couldn't get any dumber. This was starting to annoy me. I stop in the middle of the street, face him with a serious look on my face..."we want him to know exactly what we think of him... that he's a lying dog for leaving us for that copper, and that he has to pay for his betrayal". There is a moment of silent stares shared between us, before we continue to the diner.

I walk into the diner hoping to see my favourite old bat colleen, but unfortunately, she doesn't appear to be there... as I continue to scan the room, I also notice that Brax is nowhere to be found..."wow...he's not even on time" I say to Riley... "You'd think if he cared so much about his 'girlfriend', that he might actually be on time...maybe he really doesn't give a crap about anyone but himself." I say with disappointment... we'll give him half an hour to arrive, and then the bitch is dead...

**Charlies POV:**

I wake up slowly, my insides burning, my head aching. Obviously I've been out for a while, because Brodie and Riley are nowhere to be found and I am in a different room of the house. Tegan on the other hand sits to the left of me, glaring. I try to move my arms, but they're tied tightly around the back of my chair I am now sitting on.

"Finally," Tegan says, getting up off the couch.

"Where're the boys?" I ask my voice not nearly as strong as I'd hoped it would be.

"They're probably meeting with Brax as we speak" she says, walking behind me.

"Brax?"

"You know... the one you've been calling?" Tegan holds up my mobile phone and my heart sings... "Been having a little bit of a chat to him during your stay with us have you? Are we not enough company for you? Oh what a shame...I'll have to be more entertaining for you" she says as she slaps my already aching head and face, and throws my phone against the wall.

Barely holding on to consciousness, I close my eyes for a minute...

" no, no, no my dear sergeant Buckton, you will not be falling asleep again...I want to have a girl to girl chat with you... wont that be fun?"

I open my eyes and Tegan is leaning on the sides of my chair with her eyes piercing mine...

"Don't you know it's wrong to come between your boyfriend and his friends? Because that's what you have done... and you don't even seem to care about what leaving the River Boys did to Brax...those boys are his family. They'd stand by him for life... I'd stand by him for life. How long are you going to be around for? Hmm? Until you get bored? Until he gets in the way of your job? You don't deserve him!"

Listening to Tegan showed me how pathetic she truly was... she needed the cold hard truth...

"He doesn't care about you Tegan... You two are past history...done... you need to understand that and move on!" I could see that Tegan was getting very angry...

"He loves me and I love him... and nothing you or brodie or riley do is going to change that!"

**Brax's POV:**

I head to the national park, to the safe house that I know they will be...Brodie and riley have a total of half a brain. Since I know brodie and riley won't be there because they are waiting for me at the diner, I ready myself to save Charlie. I see the door to the house and I know in my gut that she is in there... the girl I love is in there... wow... I realise then and there the depth of my love for Charlie... knowing that Tegan will be the only one guarding Charlie, I kick the door down, and storm into the room... I see Charlie beaten and barely conscious in the chair... then I see Tegan... my fury gets the better of me.

As if I have no control over my motions, I push away an advancing Tegan, and hastily make my way to Charlie. I think Tegan must know the full extent of my anger, because she stands idly by as I undo the ties that are binding Charlie. She is no longer conscious...I pick her up; she hangs limply in my arms as I run us both to my car, knowing I have to get her to the hospital at all costs.


	7. Chapter 7

**Brodie's POV:**

Riley and I are sitting in the diner, drinking coffee waiting for Brax to arrive. Half an hour passes, and still no sign... so I make the decision... the cop is going to die!

"Alright Riley... let's go... we have other business we need to attend to now... Brax had his chance"...

We leave the diner and it doesn't take long before we are at the house again... I can tell that something has happened. The door is wide open, and Tegan, although she is the meaning of dumb blonde, she knows not to leave it open.

We walk in to the house and see a frantic Tegan pacing up and down with her mobile phone in her hand... the bitch copper is nowhere to be seen... maybe she's still in the room that we first locked her in?

"Oh my god! Brodie!" she says frantically... "I was just trying to call you...Brax, he found us, he took Charlie... there wasn't anything I could do to stop him... sorry brodie... but he would've hurt me!"

"Great... now we have no leverage... which means Brax has won... what do we do now?" I reply to her frantic jabbering... I sit on the lounge, and think of what to do next...

**Brax's POV:**

I speed to the hospital with Charlie slouched on the passenger seat. On the way I call Ruby and Casey, tell them about Charlie's state, and they decide to meet us at the hospital. I pull up in the emergency drive way, and call the attention of the doctors.

" Help! Anyone... I need help here!" I say as I lift Charlie out of the car, still unconscious.

My shouting is noticed by Sid and he and other nurses advance towards me with a stretcher.

"What happened?" Sid asks, seeing Charlie's poor state of health, the back of her head bleeding, her face bruised.

"I don't know...I...I... I just found her like this..."I say, my voice shaky. "Is she going to be okay Sid? Is she going to be okay?"

"It's too soon to tell just yet." He says as he carries Charlie away. "You just take a seat in the waiting room, and I'll let you know as soon as there is any news... I suggest you call her family to let them know that she is here..."

I stare at Charlie being carried away until they turn the corner and she is no longer visible... she is going to be okay! I say to myself... she has to be okay! My emotions begin to get the better of me, and I break down in tears... she has to be okay!


	8. Chapter 8

**Brax's POV:**

I'm sitting in the waiting room, anxiously waiting for some news from Sid. Minutes feel like hours, and with each one that passes I feel myself growing more and more worried... but as Casey and Ruby come rushing in, I am forced to push my own feelings aside, to be strong for them...especially for Ruby. I know that's what Charlie would do for Casey if it were me.

"What happened?" Ruby asks me, her face like a mirror of my own, filled with panic and concern. "I'm not sure". She doesn't need to be told of the state that her mother was in when I found her. "But they're in there working on her now. She's going to be fine, Rubes." At this point I'm not exactly sure if I'm trying to convince the kids or myself.

"I'm going to talk to the nurses, see if they know anything" says ruby, walking off in the opposite direction, leaving Casey and I alone.

"Brax..." Casey says in a stern voice... "What really happened? No lies or half truths... I can take it"

It's no point keeping anything from that kid, he'd only find out about it later...

"Brodie and Tegan", I say, "that's what happened"

"Brodie and Tegan?"

"Look Casey, I'm not exactly sure what went down, but I know what it's about, and that they're going to pay for what they've done."

We share a moment of shared silence, before it is broken by the return of ruby... "They wouldn't tell me anything... they said we have to wait for Sid to talk to us" she says, frustrated.

With a sigh, she sits down and buries her head in her hands. Casey and I are quick to join her. Apparently I'm not the only one who the suspense of not knowing is killing...

The time passes slowly; it seems like forever for the three of us. After what seems like a good eternity, I see Sid walking towards us. Almost at the same time, the three of us get to our feet, and we make our way over to him.

"Is Charlie okay?" asks Ruby, a tear falling down her face..."please tell me she's okay!"

Sid hesitates. "The surgeons had a bit of trouble controlling all of the internal bleeding, but they've got it under control and she's in a stable condition."

Relief floods through all of us.

"Can we see her?" Ruby pleads.

"Not just yet...she's awake, but I need to talk to her before you can see her. And I'll need to talk to you as well Brax"

I nod, already knowing exactly what he needs to talk to Charlie about, and what he's going to ask me.

**Charlies POV:**

I wake up in a daze, wondering where I am. It smells like a hospital. I realise my detective instincts are correct when I see Sid walking through the door.

"Do you remember anything about what happened?" Sid says with a very serious tone of voice... "Your injuries are consistent of a beating...we're going to have to contact the police".

"Well pass me my phone and I'll wait for your call" I say, trying to lighten the mood.

Sid smiles weakly, but his seriousness soon returns..."about your test results Charlie"

"You had a pretty bad fall, and were concussed. You had internal bleeding, which we were lucky to stop" Sid says... I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I remember my ordeal...

"And one last thing... and I am really sorry to have to tell you this Charlie"

I was beginning to worry, and longed for Brax and Ruby to be by my bedside.

"You were pregnant, but because of all physical trauma you were subjected to, you lost the baby"

I break down into tears... I can't believe it... I was going to have a baby...Brax's baby...and now it's gone...

"I'm so sorry Charlie" he says as he watches me breakdown"

"Can I please see my family?" I sob... "I really need to see them"

"Well Ruby is here with Casey, and Brax was the one who found you so he too is here... would you like me to bring in the three of them and tell them what happened?" he asks as gently as possible, seeing how distraught I was...

"Yes... but please don't tell them what happened...they don't need to know"

"Charlie" Sid says, "I think it's important that they know – "

"Please..." I beg. Sid nods and leaves the room. I rest my head back on the pillow and try to keep myself from crying again... I can't believe I was going to have a baby...

It isn't long before Ruby comes crashing through the door of my room, closely followed by Casey, and of course Brax. The way Brax looks at me as he comes in...It's as if he already knows what's happened...of course he could never know the full extent of what has happened.

Ruby throws her arms around me... I would have returned the hug if it didn't make my body ache all over. I give a soft cry of pain and Ruby jumps back, apologising for something she had no control over.

"Its okay, Ruby," I assure her, although my voice betrays me. "Really... I'm fine."

"You don't look it! What happened Charlie?" she asks, sitting down beside me on the bed..."who did this to you?"

I can't bring myself to tell her. There's no way she would be able to handle it if I'm barely able to. I hate myself for it, but I have to lie to her. "I was on my way to meet you," I say, trying to sit up in the bed. Ruby reaches forward to help me as best she can, but every touch and every movement hurts, so I give up. "And I wasn't looking whether there was traffic coming... next thing I know, I'm in here."

"You got run over?" she gasps.

"That's what Sid tells me."

"Yeah," Brax jumps in, I can see in his eyes that he knows that what I am saying is a lie; that he knows the truth, but he helps me cover the truth up because he knows how badly that could hurt Ruby. "And whoever the scumbag was just left here there. I found her when I was going back to the diner to see if she had shown up yet.

Ruby looks at Brax, shocked, and Casey puts his arm around her to offer his support... I could tell that even the lie was devastating her... "I really am fine Ruby, there's nothing for you to get upset over... now how about you and Casey go home and you can get some sleep?" I say, trying to calm her down... "I promise I will still be here when you wake up in the morning okay?"

After some hesitation, Ruby finally agrees. They say goodbye to us both, and leave for the night. Brax takes a seat next to my bed and takes hold of my hand... "I'm not going anywhere" he says to me. I think about what Sid had told me earlier... the baby... I needed to tell Brax... but how would he react? I wasn't ready to tell him...before I know it, I break down in tears.

"Hey, hey, hey," Brax says, putting a hand on my face. "Don't cry, you don't have to be scared, you're safe now."

"It's not that," I say through my tears... it takes me a moment but I calm down enough to begin to tell him. "I...I...I was pregnant Brax"...i can feel the tears falling faster and faster. "I lost the baby Brax...our baby...it's gone!"

Brax's POV

I couldn't believe it... I was supposed to become a father... with the love of my life... but Brodie and Tegan have taken that away from me! They are going to pay for this... but Charlie needs me now... "It's okay Charlie, I'm here for you...I'll always be here for you no matter what. You're the strongest person I know... you are going to get through this". Charlie weakly smiles at me through her tears. She nudges me over to the bed, where she has made room for me. I lay next to her holding her tightly, afraid to let her go. I smile as Charlie gradually falls asleep in my arms. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep after her.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Sorry it took us so long to make the next chapter. Thanks again to everyone who read our story, who added it to their favourites, and who reviewed it with such kind words... It really means a lot to us! X If you have any suggestions about future chapters and storylines, let us know via reviews :)**_

**Brax's POV:**

I felt like I had been asleep for hours when I was woken by movement in Charlie's room. My first instinct was to protect Charlie, but to my relief it was just the nurse checking on her.

"You can't stay here the night" she says to me "visiting hours ended a while ago; you're going to have to leave... I'm sorry"

"Why can't I stay? She's my girlfriend" I say, the anger about everything that had happened coming out in my voice,

"I...I'm sorry sir, but its policy" my anger was starting to scare her, so I calmed myself down

I sigh... "Fine... but can I stay just a few minutes longer?" I beg, my tone of voice changing from anger to defeat.

"Sure, but only a few more minutes... she will still be here in the morning" the nurse says as she leaves Charlie's room.

I kiss Charlie on the forehead before I leave. I hate the thought of leaving her, but I had to. Maybe I needed sleep anyway. But I'll be back as soon as visiting hours allow.

**Brodie's POV:**

'I don't know man,' riley says to me, his voice full of panic. I'm too tired and frustrated to be dealing with him. I am so angry at Tegan for letting the cop get away. 'Isn't there another way?'

'For the last time riley, there is no other way!' I yell, whacking my hand on the steering wheel for emphasis. He's really getting on my nerves. 'Brax knows it was us. He's going to come looking for us. We have to get him before he has a chance to get to us.'

'Maybe we should just keep it between us, instead of involving them,' riley suggests. Idiot. How many times to I have to tell him?

'We don't have a choice bro!' I yell.

I sigh. 'If there was any other way I would have thought of it by now, but there's not.'

'But involving hammer and his boys?' riley persists. I roll my eyes. 'Wouldn't it be better to just keep it between us?'

'Give it a rest riley, alright? Even though he left, Brax still has too much sway with the boys.'

"But if they knew about the cop that would all change"

"No, no it wouldn't... get it through your head mate... this is our only option. Going to the boys isn't going to help... at all. They will side with Brax. No matter what we say. Hammer hates Brax as much as we do... he will help. You'll see. Now shut it!"

We pull up on the curb outside hammer's place. It looks even dodgier from the outside than my house does. We walk across the lawn to the front door, riley trailing behind me. Wimp. It takes several knocks for someone to him to answer. He smiles out of the corner of his mouth, ugly mug.

'What the hell are you two doing here?' he asks.

We wanted to talk to you,' I say, holding hammer's gaze.

'And what makes you think I'll listen?'

'I think you're going to hear what we have to say.'

'And why's that?'

'Because it involves Brax, and if you help us, you'll get a free shot at him.'

Hammer seems to think about this for a moment; I can practically hear the mouse wheel turning inside his head. He eventually steps aside in the doorway and lets us in. at least that's something.

**Brax's POV:**

Before I know it, it's the next morning, and even though I've been in bed for the last 6 hours or so, I feel as though I haven't had any sleep. All I've been able to think about is Charlie. She was the last thing I thought about when I laid down and the first thing on my mind when I woke up. But that's not really unusual.

I'm out the door as soon as possible, heading for the hospital. I didn't want to go in too early because I wanted to give Charlie a chance to rest. But at the same time I really, really, really wanted to see her, to see that she's still as okay as when I left her.

The stupid nurses make me wait until 10:00, when visiting hours officially begin, to go in and see her. So after spending about 40 minutes sitting around in the waiting room, I finally get to go in and see her.

'Hey,' I say with a smile as I enter. She doesn't smile back. 'How're you today?'

'Fine,' she says her voice flat and emotionless. While I know nothing could have happened to her since I left her side, I can still feel that something's changed.

I take a seat next to her bed. She still hasn't made eye contact with me. She turns to face the window, away from me. I reach out to take hold of her hand. She removes her hand from my grasp, and turns her whole body to face to window.  
>"Charlie? What's wrong? Talk to me...please?"<p>

She still doesn't answer me. She doesn't have to. It doesn't take a genius to work out what's wrong. 'Brodie's not going to get away with this,' I assure her. 'I promise you.' this doesn't seem to help her at all. I get up and head towards the door. It's clear she needs space. I turn to face her one last time before I leave. Her eyes are closed, but I know she isn't asleep. "I love you... don't ever forget that!" I say as I walk out of the room

More determined than ever to get back at Brodie for this, I head home, a million possible acts of revenge running through my mind. Of course I could just kill him, but I don't know how Charlie would feel about that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ruby's POV:**

'She'll be alright,' Casey tells me, as we sit at the table, attempting to study. 'She's a cop. She's tough.'

'Yeah I know,' I say, still having trouble believing him. 'But we can't be sure. Sid said there was a lot of internal bleeding.'

'Which he also said they got under control; you have to stop worrying so much. If something was wrong, the hospital would let you know, or Charlie would tell you.'

I nod, still in disbelief. Casey puts his arm around my shoulders, but only for a brief moment, before we are interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. It is Brax.

'Hey,' I greet him. 'Have you been to see Charlie this morning?'

'Ahh yeah, I have,' he replies.

'And?'

'And...I don't know. I don't think she's doing too great Rubes. She wouldn't talk to me this morning when I was with her.'

'What? Why?'

'I honestly don't know. But she started pulling away from me. So I was kind of hoping maybe you could try to talk to her.'

'Yeah, of course...' I stand up, ready to leave already. 'Just as long as what you guys said happened is what really happened...You're not keeping anything from me, are you?' I look from Brax to Casey and back to Brax again.

'Of course it is,' Brax says. 'What reason could we have to lie to you?'

I nod. 'I'll see you later Casey.'

'See you.' He kisses my hand before letting me go. I leave quickly, but not before catching a weird look between Casey and Brax, a look that makes me think maybe there really is more to what happened than what they're telling me.

I walk into Charlie's hospital room. She appears to be asleep. The sound of me walking towards the seat next to her bed startles her and she wakes up in a panic.

"Charlie its okay..." I say as I try to calm her down. Brax was right, she is not okay

"Get away from me... doesn't hurt me... Help" she yells, drawing the attention of the nurses in the hallway

"Charlie, it's just me, Ruby, you're going to be okay, just calm down!" I reassure her, but it doesn't help.

The nurses come in, and give her an injection. "What are you doing to her?" I ask with worry painted over my face

"It's just a sedative to calm her down; she'll be asleep for a while. Maybe you should leave, and come back when she is already awake, so that she can recognise you".

I leave Charlie's room without further argument, and head towards the waiting room to wait for her to wake up. There was no way I was leaving this hospital until I had a chance to talk to her

**Casey's POV:**

Totally oblivious to the world around him, Heath takes his sweet time getting home from his morning surf. It's as if he hadn't heard the urgency in Brax's voice when he called him just after Ruby left.

'What's going on brothers?' he asks, annoyingly cheery. 'What's going on is that a couple of the boys are a little pissy about me leaving the gang,' Brax says, 'and leaving you in charge.'

'What're you talking about? The boys love me.'

'You think everyone loves you,' I say, intending it to be an insult, but I don't think Heath sees it that way.

'That's because they do,' he says with a smile.

'Will you boys cut it out, this is serious,' Brax says, and Heath and I put all our jokes and jibes aside.

'What happened?' Heath asks.

'Brodie and Riley kidnapped Charlie yesterday,' Brax says.

'What?' I can't believe it.

'Yeah, and they beat her around pretty damn badly too.' I can see how pissed off Brax is.

'Why would they do that?' Heath asks.

'To get at me? I don't know.' Brax kicks the wall in frustration.

'How did they even know about Charlie?' I ask.

'I don't know, but the point is they do know. And it's only a matter of time before they tell the rest of the boys.' Brax turns to Heath. 'And Tegan was in on it.'

'What?' Heath fumes. 'How? What did she - '

'Look it doesn't matter, alright. I'm going to deal with this.'

'How? What are you going to do?' I ask.

'Don't you worry about it Case. Just promise me you won't tell Ruby anything. It's up to Charlie to decide if she wants her to know the truth or not.'

'Braaax - ' I protest.

'I mean it Case. The both of you keep this to yourselves.'

**Ruby's POV:**

Hours pass while I'm waiting for Charlie to wake up. I get up to go to the vending machine for a drink, because my thirst is getting the better of me. I return to the waiting room, and as I attempt to open the drink, I am interrupted by one of the nurses.

"Charlie is awake now, you can go see her now" she says with a polite smile on her face

"Thank you so much" I say with a grin from ear to ear. I put the lid back on the drink and put it in my bag for the time being, as I walk towards her room.

I enter the room and Charlie is sitting up in her bed. She lifts up her head and looks at me, acknowledging my arrival.

"Hi Charlie... I was so worried about you" I say as I take a seat next to her "are you okay?"

I notice Charlie acting strange, and I am hesitant to bring it up... what if she gets upset again?... but I need to ask her...she needs to talk to someone.

"Charlie..." I begin, but then pause, unsure of how to proceed. "What really happened to you? You can talk to me... I'm here for you"

"Nothing Ruby...drop it" she says in a cold tone.

"Charlie, I'm your daughter, I just want to be here for you. I could've lost you yesterday. You obviously need someone to talk to... let that person be me!" I plead

"Please ruby, don't make me talk about it" her tone of voice becoming more emotional... distraught."

"It's okay Charlie; I'll be here the whole time. And when you need to stop you can, but you have to talk to someone okay"

Charlie sighs, tears forming in her eyes, as she begins her story.

"I wasn't in a car accident yesterday Rubes", she begins, her voice already shaky, "I was..."

"it's okay Charlie, keep going" I assure her.

"I was kidnapped..."

I was totally shocked. I can't believe what Charlie was telling me, but I pretended to be okay, as she continued.

"They beat me up pretty bad as you can see" she sobs... "And when I woke up in here yesterday they told me..."

Charlie begins to break down. I could see that Charlie was totally heartbroken at whatever she had been told by the doctors.

"What did they tell you Charlie? It's okay...", I grab hold of her hand, hoping that it would calm her down.

"I...I... I was pregnant" she states, tears streaming down her face... "but I lost the baby... I lost Brax's baby... it's entirely my fault... I'm so weak... I killed our child!" suddenly the machines surrounding Charlie began to frantically beep, and nurses came rushing in.

Charlie was struggling to breathe; panicking... she was totally distraught. Her heart rate had risen dangerously. The nurses gave her another injection, which lowered her heart rate, and before long, she was asleep.

"It really is time for you to leave now" the nurse states coldly " you can't stay here anymore... you mum is in no state to see anyone else today."


	11. Chapter 11

**Brax POV**

Gun in hand and with a wallet short of about $250, I hop back into my car. My dealer speeds off down the street, and I head off in the opposite direction. I don't know what will happen when I find Brodie, Riley and Tegan, but it won't be pretty. If they put up a fight, I'll be ready for whatever they have to throw at me. No one hurts Charlie the way they did and gets away with it.

A short way down the road, my phone goes off. I pull it out of my pocket, not bothering to actually pull over to answer it (getting pulled over by the police for talking on the phone whilst driving would be the least of my problems considering I now have a gun sitting in plain sight on the passenger seat!).

'Hello?'

I don't hear much on the other end, just muffled sounds and quiet talking.

'Hello?' I repeat. And then I actually listen. I hear what sounds like Charlie's voice. And Riley's.

'Why are you here? Get out of here!' Charlie yells her voice more pleading than threatening. I hang up the phone, slam down hard on the breaks and turn the car around. Revenge on Brodie and Tegan will have to wait a bit longer – I have to save Charlie from Riley now.

**Riley's POV:**

'What was the point of calling Brax?' the cop asks me, practically hyperventilating. 'You know he's just going to come straight here, and when he does - '

'That's exactly the point!' I shout, and she starts sitting up more in her bed, moving as far away from me as possible, holding her knees in her shaky hands. It is obvious that she is on the verge of tears. I almost feel sorry for her... almost.

I pace around the room, staring at my phone, every so often, looking up at a distraught Charlie who has her head in her knees. Her sobs are quite loud. The machines around her are beginning to beep quicker, and I know I'm running out of time. I sigh a breath of relief when my phone rings, and it's Brodie.

"It's all set, you can leave now" he says, before hanging up.

"Finally" I think to myself, as I walk out of the room. It is perfect timing too, because as I do, the cop's machines begin to beep out of control, and she starts to scream for help. I make sure that I am not seen as I leave the hospital.

**Brax's POV:**

I am well over the speed limit, but I don't care. Charlie is at the wrath of Riley, and although he isn't very bright, he is strong... strong enough to badly hurt an already weak Charlie. My phone starts ringing so I reach for it on the passenger seat where it is laying next to the gun and my wallet. I take my eyes off the road for just a minute.

I am lucky enough to look up in time to see the detour sign in front of road work. I swerve the car at high speed to avoid it. But now I am headed for the shrubs on the side of the road. I slam the breaks and hope for the best. It's funny though, because although I could die in this swerving car, all I can think about is Charlie being hurt by Riley... the only reason why I want to survive this is for her. I need to be there. Finally the car stops...

It takes me a minute to recover from the shock. How the hell could this have happened? I don't have time for this! I go to open my door, but find it pulled out from the other side. A pair of arms reaches in and pulls me out of the car, tossing me to the ground. I look up. A pair of cowardly faces look down on me.

'Not so tough now are we?' Hammer says, holding a gun out towards me. Brodie is weapon less, although even if he was packing heat I doubt he'd use it on me. He's not brave enough to do that. And even though Hammer probably does have the guts to use the weapon he's holding, all I can think about is how the longer I spend sitting here, staring down the barrel of his gun, the longer Charlie is in danger.


	12. Chapter 12

**Charlie's POV**

'It's okay to talk about how you're feeling you know. That's what I'm here for – to listen,' says the psychiatrist. I look away from him. I don't need to talk to anyone about this. The fewer people that know, the better.

'It must have been quite a shock for you, to find out that you're pregnant but that you've lost the child, all in the same day,' he goes on. A shock is a bit of an understatement. What is the point of sending someone in to talk to me who has absolutely no idea how I'm feeling? I continue ignoring him, turning my head further and further away, unable to think about myself when I know something is happening with Brax.

'...let me help you,' he finishes, and I snap.

'There's someone out there right now, who I love, who could be in real danger because he was trying to help me! And instead of listening to me, and sending people to help him, or letting me go and help him, like I asked, the hospital pumps me full of drugs and sends a _shrink _in to talk to me about my feelings! You want to help me? Then help him!' I start breathing heavier and heavier, choking almost, and the psychiatrist just sits there.

'It's alright Charlie,' he says, in that fake soothing voice all psychiatrists are trained to use. 'Just calm down.'

But I can't calm down. I can feel myself slipping away from consciousness, and only then does the psychiatrist think to call for help.

**Brax's POV**

'Get over there,' Hammer says, jabbing his gun into my back.

'Alright, alright,' I say, 'just take it easy.'

'You're pretty calm for someone who's about to die, Braxton. Face the tree.' I do what he says. 'Hands behind your head.'

'You think I'm just going to – '

'Hey, who has the gun here? Hands behind your head!'

'Hey – maybe just take it easy Hammer. We don't want to kill him,' Brodie says.

'Don't we? I thought we were in this together,' Hammer says, as I slowly put my hands behind my head. I can hear the fear in Brodie's voice as he talks back to the psycho-maniac.

'W-we are,' he stutters.

'Why else would you have gotten me involved?'

'Because he couldn't go through with this himself,' I say. 'He couldn't kill me himself – there's too much history there.'

'Zip it Braxton!' Hammer yells.

'Or what? You'll shoot me in cold blood? See coz, I don't think you will.'

'And why would you think that?'

'Because Brodie's not gonna let ya,' I say with confidence. 'He doesn't have it in him.'

'Look, just, shut up Brax, alright! You're not one of the Boys anymore, if anyone doesn't have it in him, it's you!'

'I may not be part of the gang anymore but we are still family. Blood and sand Brodie, that hasn't changed.'

'Blood and sand, blood and sand – enough of this crap,' Hammer says. 'Say goodbye Braxton.'

'Think about it Brodie, this isn't the life you want!'

I hear Hammer go to pull the trigger, but just as I suspected he would, Brodie knocks Hammer's arm down, and I seize the opportunity. Hammer turns the gun on Brodie, and just as he does, I turn around and tackle him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand. He puts up a fight, and we both start swinging, but the worm is so easy to overpower. Eventually he's unconscious, and I stand up, blood on my fists, turning my attention to Brodie.

'Brax, all I wanted was to teach you a lesson,' he says, 'to show you that you can't just walk away from us, from your so called family, for a cop no less!'

'And now I'm going to walk away again,' I say, advancing on him.

'Look, Brax, I swear – '

'This is not over, Brodie. We may be family but I'm not above kicking your ass for what you've done. And I intend on following through on that. But not just this second.' I bend down and pick up the gun that Hammer lost, before heading over to my crashed car. It breaks my heart to see her in this condition, but I have to push it aside for the other girl I love. I take my own gun from the front seat, and a couple of other things that no one should probably find.

'Did you get here in a car?' I ask Brodie, heading back towards the road.

'Yeah, why?'

'I'm taking it.'

**Casey's POV**

I hear a knock at the door. Thinking that it might be Ruby coming back from visiting her mum (she's been gone for hours), I get up without considering that the person on the other side might actually be someone I don't want to talk to. How silly of me.

'Casey,' Tegan says, smiling at me. I can never look at her the same way again, knowing what she's done. 'How are you?'

'What are you doing here Tegan?' I ask, as if I don't already know. She knows she's done the wrong thing and she's come to try and make excuses for it. It's the same old story.

'I was wondering if Brax was in. It's really important that I talk to him.' She keeps smiling, like there's really something for her to be smiling about.

'Well he's not here, and even if he was, I seriously doubt he'd want to talk to you. Kill you, maybe, but not talk to you.'

The smile is wiped right from her face. 'I take it you – '

' – know what happened? Yeah. You could say that.'

'Look, Casey, I – '

' – you don't know what I've heard, but you can explain? Yeah, I've heard that before Tegan. You've done some pretty messed up things before, but never anything like this.'

'You think I wanted to get involved in this?' she asks. I prepare myself for her victim act. 'Brodie and Riley forced me into it, okay! They were going to hurt Darcy if I didn't.'

'Oh come off it Tegan, we all know you hate Charlie because Brax chose her over you. But you really need to get over it and move on.'

'You're right, I do hate that grass-cutting cop, but please believe me when I say I didn't hurt her, and that I wouldn't have done anything to her if I had had any other choice.'

'You're unbelievable Tegan. Get out of here, or I might just call Brax. He won't let you walk away from this so easily.'

Tegan smiles out of the corner of her mouth. 'He already did.' She turns and walks away, and just as I am about to close the door on her, I hear another set of footsteps coming towards the door. It's Ruby.

'Hey, what was Tegan doing here?' she asks me.

'No idea,' I say, stepping out of the way of the door so Ruby can come inside. 'How was your mum?'

'She was awful, Casey,' Ruby says, and I can tell she is upset.

'What happened?' I ask.

'She told me the truth about what happened to her yesterday,' she says, which takes me by surprise. 'She wasn't really hit by a car – somebody kidnapped her Casey!' Forget upset, Ruby is distraught. 'And apparently they beat her around so badly that – ' She struggles to get the words out, so I put my arms around her, comfortingly.

'What?' I ask.

Ruby takes a step back from me and looks me in the eye. 'She was pregnant, Case. With Brax's baby. But because of what happened...it died...' I pull her back closer to me and hold her tight. 'I could have had a little brother or sister...' she sobs. 'So could have you...'

Brax had skipped that little detail in his conversation with Heath and I this morning. I knew Brax wanted to kill Brodie and Riley, and Tegan as well, for what they'd done to Charlie, but I had no idea how much he really must have wanted to. Even I wanted to kill them now.

'I swear...' Ruby says, walking back out of my hug again. '...if I ever find out who did this...'

It would be so easy to just tell her. She already pretty much knows everything anyway...what harm could it do?

'Casey...' Ruby says, as if reading my mind. 'I know that look...' She steps back completely away from me now. 'You know something, don't you.'

'No.'

'Don't lie to me. Was it one of Jake's guys?'

'I don't know what – '

'Please Casey! This is my mum you're talking about, our lost little sibling! How can you stand there and lie to me?'

I sigh. What damage could telling her the truth really do?

'It wasn't one of Jake's guys...' I say. 'It was more of...an inside job.'

'An inside job? As in...'

'Two of the River Boys, Brodie and Riley, kidnapped her...and Tegan helped.'

Ruby has a look of pure shock on her face. 'What? Why? How?'

'Look, I don't know, alright, Brax didn't tell me much – '

' – Brax knows?'

'Yes, he knows, and he went out to do something about it, but he wouldn't tell me what.'

'Oh my God, Casey! How could you have kept this from me?'

'What good would telling you have done? It would have only made you worry more!'

'Well now we can tell the police, because I assume you haven't!'

'Wait – Ruby, you can't...'

'Like hell I can't! Casey, they kidnapped my mother, a police officer! We can't just leave this in your brother's hands!' Ruby is already heading out the door, obviously for the police station. And now I see just how much damage telling her the truth could have done.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ruby's POV**

I storm out of Casey's place, hoping that he isn't following me. I turn back as I walk away to see him chasing after me.

"Just leave it Casey! They have to pay for what they've done" I yell as I continue to briskly walk.

"No ruby, you can't! It won't help! They have no proof" he cries, chasing after me, but I start to block out the sound of his voice. I am not going to be persuaded out of this I think to myself.

Suddenly, I hear my phone ring, I turn back expecting Casey to be the caller; that's something he would do, but to my surprise he has no phone in his hand. I take out my phone from my pocket and answer it.

I hang up the phone and Casey can tell that something is wrong.

'Who was that?' Casey asks me, as I head back towards him.

'It was the hospital...they need me to come in, urgently.'

'Well then let's go.'

'What if something's happened to Charlie?' I ask, starting to worry. 'What if – '

'We won't know until we get down there,' Casey says, 'but if your mum's anything like you, I'm sure whatever it is, she'll be strong enough to pull through.'

'If something has happened, I'm going to be even more determined to call the police,' I say, storming past him, heading back towards his house where my car is. 'I hope you know that.'

**Brodie's POV**

Not long after Brax left – in my car no less – Hammer came to. And he was pissed. After having threatened to kill me if I got in his way, he ran up the road towards his own car, and it doesn't take a genius to work out where he's heading in it. What was Brax thinking, beating him up like that? It just set him off! Now Brax is going to be in real trouble...I seriously underestimated the extent of Hammer's insanity – I should never have gotten him involved in any of this. For the first time in his life, I think Riley was right about something.

Really, I never should have kidnapped that stupid cop! She's the one to blame for this whole mess!

Running up the road myself, not really thinking about how exactly I'm going to get there, just knowing I have to get to the hospital to help Brax, I see a car heading my way. It slows down when it gets to me, and to my relief it is Riley in the front seat.

'Hey man, what're you – '

'Riley, for once I am actually happy to see you,' I say, running around to the passenger side of the car. 'We have to go back to the hospital. Hammer's lost it.'

'I told you we shouldn't have gotten him involved in this.'

'Yeah yeah, I'll give you a medal later. Just drive.'

Riley turns the car around, and we speed off towards the hospital. While having Brax dead would mean I wouldn't have to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to kill me, I can't let him die. We're still family after all.

**Brax's POV:**

'Seriously man, just calm down hey,' I say, sick of finding myself within 3 metres of Hammer and a deadly weapon.

'You thought you were just going to walk away after knocking me out?' Hammer spits, jack-knife pointed in my direction. He smiles wickedly. 'Nah, that's not how this ends. And you – ' Hammer turns his attention to Charlie, panic stricken in her bed, ' – don't you even think about screaming.'

Hammer stands in front of the door to the room, which is unfortunately closed, closer to Charlie than to me. All I can think about is protecting her – if I had a dollar for the number of times I've felt this way in the past 2 days.

'You and your mate Brodie had your little touching moment before,' Hammer says. 'Now you and I are going to have ours.'

'Don't do anything stupid, alright,' I warn him.

'Stupid? Stupid was your friend getting me involved in this. Stupid was you beating me up back there. Stupid was you thinking I wasn't going to come right after you.'

'It's obvious you want revenge on me – so why don't we just take this outside – '

'No, Brax – ' Charlie starts to protest.

'I'm in agreement with your girlfriend,' Hammer says. 'Let's not take this outside.'

'It's kind of pointless isn't it? You stabbing me in a hospital? A) You'll get caught, and B) they have surgeons here. Stabbing me will achieve nothing.'

'Unless they get here too late to save you,' Hammer says, smiling again, like the thought of death excites him. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it does. In the corner of my eye I can see Charlie starting to become more and more of a wreck. 'But then again...who said I came here to stab you anyway?'

Everything seems to slow down then, as Hammer suddenly lunges towards Charlie. Charlie starts to scream, and I run forward. Before I can get to him, the door to the room has flown open, and Brodie and Riley have come charging in. Brodie is behind Riley, struggling with him, while I rush to Charlie's side. She's in tears, shaking, breathing unsteadily.

'Are you alright?' I ask her, checking for wounds. She doesn't answer me. Of course she's not alright, mentally anyway.

Just outside the doorway, I see Ruby and Casey, eyes wide, staring into the room and seeing the commotion.

'Call the police!' Ruby shouts, as she and Casey both run forward. I try to tell them to stay back, but being the persistent little buggers they are, they both come running right in. Nurses outside in the corridor are panicking, running everywhere, not quite sure what to make of the scene.

Ruby rushes immediately over to Charlie, while Casey tries to get involved in the altercation. Knowing Charlie is in capable hands, I get up and help Casey in stopping the fight. I suddenly realise that Brodie has been stabbed, and is bleeding heavily. I yell at Casey to get help. He lets go of a struggling hammer and runs to get the nurses who are standing at the nearby nurses' station.

All of the nurses go to help Brodie, except for one who is on the phone to the police, and one who is paging a surgeon. Soon enough, Brodie is being stretchered away, while Riley, Casey and I are pinning Hammer down, waiting for the police.

I turn my head to check on Charlie, and she is still in a poor emotional state. Ruby is trying her hardest to calm her down, but it doesn't seem to be working. It is obvious that Charlie is terrified. All I want to do is hold her, and tell her everything will be okay, but I know if I let go of Hammer, he will get away, and our nightmare won't ever end.

**Ruby's POV:**

It feels like hours until the police finally arrive and take Hammer away. Charlie is now sedated to stop her from having another panic attack. Brax, Casey and I sit at Charlie's bedside watching her sleep. I lay my head on Casey's shoulder, and begin to feel tears forming in my eyes. I begin to speak, but am cut off by Sid walking through the door, asking to speak to us. It seems serious..

"Is this why I was called to the hospital originally?" I ask.

"Yes, yes it is, Charlie has been subjected to in the last few days has caused her to develop a severe case of depression and anxiety"

"Oh my god!" I say in disbelief. How could Charlie, my mother, become depressed? It was just not possible!

"I know that this is a lot to take in, but you need to listen carefully, because I really need you to understand what I am saying." He says in an empathetic tone, "I believe your mother would be better suited in a psychiatric ward, and I need your approval to move her there. I know this is a lot to ask, but it will really help your mother because they are well equipped to handle these situations"

This is all so much to take in. I look at Brax, who is just as devastated as I am. I can tell that he is thinking the same way I am... how could we let this happen?


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hey guys, sorry it took us so long to update, but we had our end of year exams so it was a bit hectic. Hope this chapter was worth the wait :) please review.. we love your input!thanks for the continued support xx**_

3 months later...

CHARLIE'S POV

'I'm okay, honestly,' I assure Ruby, as she leads me up the familiar walkway towards Leah's house. I have to laugh at her, mothering me...that was supposed to be my job.

'Yeah, I know,' she says, her arm around me as she ushers me towards the house. 'I just want to make sure.' She puts her other arm around me then, hugging me tightly. 'And I've missed you!' Instinctively, I hug her back.

'I've missed you too,' I say with a smile.

It feels weird to be walking a familiar path again, when for the past three months I've had to adjust to such different surroundings and to such different people. It was hard not being around friends, and even harder not being around Brax as often as I'd like to have been, but it was hardest of all not being with my daughter, not knowing exactly where she is and how she is at all times. I know that my being placed in that psych ward of the Northern District Hospital was really for the best, but it doesn't mean it was easy.

But I am determined to put the past behind me. Those horrible few days leading up to my being institutionalised are now but a memory that I intend to forget as much and as soon as possible. I have no choice but to look towards the comparatively bright future that I am going to make sure I have.

'Well, here we are,' Ruby says with a smile, 'home sweet home.' She puts my suitcase down beside the door and lets go of me for the first time since we got out of the car. 'Okay, gotta go, see ya.' To my surprise, she starts running off back the way we came.

'Hey – wait!' I call after her, laughing. 'Where are you going? Don't you want to come in and spend some time together?'

'Aah, yeah, I would love to...later though.' She runs back up to me and kisses me on the cheek. 'Good to have you back mum.'

'But you're already sick of me.'

'with a keen eye like that, you should have made detective by now.'' she calls out over her shoulder as she skips off. I smile, so glad to be back in her life like before.

I unlock the door with the spare key Leah keeps under a plant just outside the door – I guess it didn't occur to Ruby that I may not have my own keys with me. I drag my suitcase inside, already feeling at home again after having just walked through the doorway. It takes me a while to realise that something, though, is not quite right. But in a good way.

No lights are on, but there is a faint orange glow coming from the living room. The house smells as if something has been freshly cooked, but I know that Leah is not home...I follow the source of the light and the smell, heading cautiously into the living room, not sure what to expect. Whatever I was expecting, it was definitely not what I found.

BRAX's POV:

It had been a LONG three months only being able to see Charlie when the visiting hours of the hospital had allowed. I really missed her lying in the bed next to me, cuddling around her, knowing she was safe. She couldn't go to Brodie's funeral, I needed her there... it was hard for me to be there. After all that had happened... I guess Charlie wouldn't have wanted to go anyway...

Things had calmed down after the events at the hospital. Hammer was arrested and charged which made me so relieved. He is a crazy person, and would go to any lengths to hurt me and Charlie. At least now Charlie will be safe.

I was so excited for Charlie to come home. I had to make a special night of it. I called Ruby and told her of the plan. She was to pick Charlie up and drop her home, but was NOT, to stay at home. The dinner table in Leah's house was decorated with a table cloth, and two long lit candles. I had slaved away for hours this afternoon trying to make an amazing meal for her, but it didn't go to plan... why did cooking have to be so tricky? I ended up getting food from the diner. The two plates are set up ready for her arrival. I hear her amazing voice talking to Ruby, and I know that now is the time...

CHARLIE'S POV:

I gasp as I see the amazing dinner that Brax has organised for me. He is standing there in suit pants and I nice shirt.

"Oh my gosh!" I say, as nothing else will come to mind. I was absolutely breath taken.

"Welcome back baby!" he says to me as a tear begins to form in my eyes.

"This is amazing!" I reply as I drop my suitcases, make my way towards him, and indulge in a passionate kiss, of which I had missed so much.

"Maybe...we...should...eat" I mumble between kisses.

Our lips disconnect, and Brax pulls out my chair for me to sit on. "When did you become the gentleman?' I giggle.

He smiles his cheeky smile, and takes a seat opposite me. We begin to eat the food he has set out. It is surprisingly good.

After a while we're finished and I ask him about the meal.

"Did you cook all that food?" I ask, still a bit shocked as he has never been one to cook well.

"Uh... I'd love to say yes, but... I mean I tried... but the diner made this wonderful food" he says, sounding somewhat disappointed in himself.

"That's okay, you set up all of this! It looks amazing! How can I ever thank you?" I smile cheekily at him, hoping he knows what I'm suggesting"

He says nothing, smiles, stands up and makes his way towards me. My smile widens, as he picks me up off the chair, and begins to kiss me as we make our way to the bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

CHARLIE'S POV

Brax holds his hands over my eyes, as he leads me away from the car and down a pebbly path.

'Where are we going?' I ask him, full of wonder.

'If I told you that, it would ruin the surprise,' he replies; I can practically hear his smile in his tone.

He continues to lead me along. I can smell the ocean, so my first thought is that maybe we've just gone to the beach, and not as far out of town as I thought we had. But I can't hear any waves, which is unusual for Summer Bay, where the swell is always unusually good.

'We're not at the beach, are we?' I ask.

'Stop trying to guess,' Brax says. 'Even if you guess right, I won't tell you.'

'Come onnnn, the suspense is killing me!'

Brax laughs, and I think I've finally gotten him to cave. 'Fine,' he says. 'On the count of three...two...one...' He lifts his hands from my eyes, and it takes a moment before I can see clearly. We are standing on a path, overlooking a secluded beach, with blindingly white sand and crystal clear water, the surface of which is hardly broken by waves. The scene is completely calm, and so beautiful, and a little way down on the sand I see what appears to be a blanket, and a basket.

'Awww Brax,' I say, walking a little further down the path. 'This place is gorgeous...How did you find it?'

'A guy has to have his secrets,' he said, moving to stand beside me. 'Come on, there's a hamper down there full of food with our name on it.' He takes my hand in his and pulls me along, with no resistance from me at all.

'You've been spoiling me so much the last few days,' I say. 'I'm never going to be able to make this up to you.'

'Hey you don't have to,' Brax says. 'This is just my way of letting you know how I feel about you, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, you feel the same way .'

I laugh. 'I'll let you know at the end of the day.'

Brax smiles. I have to figure he already knows what my answer will be.

_Later that Day:_

BRAX'S POV

Charlie's hair smells like salt and sand; I breathe in the familiar scent as she rests her head on my shoulder as we head towards Leah's house. The porch light is already on; I know that nobody else will be home, so it is as if the sensor-light was already expecting us.

'Today was wonderful,' Charlie says, turning to face me, wrapping her arms around me in that embrace only she can give. 'This whole week was wonderful. You're wonderful. Thank you so much.' The smile she wore as she said this could have lit up the porch without the aid of the sensor-light, as cliché as that might sound. I gaze into her eyes, and she reaches up and kisses me; I hold her there for just a few extra seconds, unable to tear myself away.

'I do try,' I say, a little cockily, but Charlie knows I'm just kidding around.

'Seriously,' she says, 'you're probably just about the best thing in my life right now. With or without the week's worth of spoiling...'

'Think nothing of it, babe,' I tell her. 'It's nothing more than what you deserve.' Charlie turns to open up the front door, but before we go inside, I pull her back into my arms. 'So...you said you would tell me something at the end of the day.'

'Did I?'

'Yeah,' I say. She knows exactly what I'm referring to.

'Well you know...' She slips closer towards me; I didn't think it was possible, but she proves me wrong. '...I was always much better at show than tell.'

'Is that so?' I ask, unable to stop myself from smiling.

We back through the front door, and Charlie reaches up to turn the kitchen light on.

'Yes, it is,' she says, laughing. We kiss a few more times, before Charlie abruptly pulls away from me.

'Oh my God,' she says, completely letting going of me.

'What?' I start looking around, trying to follow her gaze, which keeps darting all over the place.

'The house...' she says, spinning around. I didn't notice at first, but the kitchen is all out of order. Drawers are pulled out, plates and cups are in pieces on the ground, fruit and vegetables are scattered everywhere. Charlie heads into the living room, turning on the light as she goes; the scene in there is even worse – furniture is turned over, there's just mess and disarray everywhere.

'What the hell?' Charlie says, her voice full of horror. 'Someone's trashed the place...' I don't know what to say, because I know she's right. I start searching all the other rooms, but whoever the culprit was has left the house. I come out of VJ's room, and see Charlie almost in tears. She turns to me, perhaps looking for answers, but I don't even know how to console her. 'Brax...Brax – who...who would have – '

'I've got no idea, Charlie,' I say, and that's the honest truth. A few thoughts come to mind, but with Hammer behind bars, the Boys none the wiser, and Brodie six feet under (although even if he were alive I know he would never try anything like this now), they're just guesses.

'Why would someone do this?' she asks. I know this can't be good for her still fragile state, so I do my best to calm her down.

'I don't know, but whoever it was, we'll find out,' I say.

'We have to call the police,' Charlie says, looking for the phone. Of course, it's not in its usual place. The cord is pulled out of the wall, and Charlie starts scrambling for it, her hands shaking.

'Charles, we can't,' I say.

'Why not?'

'Because they'd see us together, and they'd start asking questions...'

'So you have to leave then,' Charlie says, her voice shaking. She's being irrational, slipping back into that unstable state.

'There's no way I'm leaving you alone, not now, of all times...'

'Go now, or we get caught, it's up to you.' She has the phone cord in the wall and is already in the process of dialling 000. 'Please Brax. I don't want to lose you over this.'

Charlie's POV:

Around 10 minutes have passed since I called the police and they have finally shown up. With much argument I finally persuaded Brax to leave, on one condition that Ruby came home to make sure I was okay. Ruby had rushed home when she got the call from Brax.

Ruby is sitting next to me on the lounge while police officers scan every detail of the house, dusting for fingerprints, looking for any sign of who did this.

Around half an hour later they cops have left, it' just me and Ruby. The house is still a mess, worse now that the cops have raided it. it looks horrible. I need to fix it! Ruby goes out the front to make a call, to Casey no doubt, while she does, I begin cleaning the house. Before I know it, Brax shows up, but I've only finished cleaning the kitchen. He can't see the house like this!

"You can't come in!" I say sternly to him. He gives me a confused look. "I'm serious... you can't come in! You have to go!"

"Why Charlie? Let me in, you need to talk about this" he pleads

"The house is a mess; you can't see it like this!

'I've already seen it! Alright, this is ridiculous, let me help you.'

"Uh... okay" I give in and open the door wider to let him in.

Brax follows me inside, and sits down on the lounge. Ruby is in her room cleaning the mess, so it is just the two of us.

He motions me to sit beside him, but I simply can't. The house needs to be cleaned!

"No Brax", I say to him, whilst picking up cushions off the floor "I need to clean first" I look at him sadly "please?"

He nods knowingly. Surely he knows it's just something I must do.

He decides to help me clean, and before I know it, the house was looking like it used to. It made me feel so much better.

We snuggle on the lounge, turn on the TV and start to watch a movie like nothing is wrong.

I look up at him with worry in my eyes.

He turns the TV off and looks at me. "What's wrong?"

"Am I safe?" I ask with sincerity, "I can't go through being scared for my life again, I just can't! All that stuff with Brodie and Hammer, and losing our baby, I just, I don't think I will be able to cope again!" I say, as tears start streaming down my face.

"I will never let anything happen to you Charlie! I love you so much and I will protect you at all costs okay!" he says cupping my face in his hands, whilst wiping away my tears. He hugs me and I don't want to let go. I feel so safe in his arms.

"Please don't let me go"

_**Hey Guys please review, we really want to know whether you like our chapters and if we should continue. We love hearing your opinions, and we love taking your ideas into account :) so please review, and hope you enjoyed it!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**We have a nice long chapter for you guys. Thanks to the people who continually review, and to those who favourite and alerted to our story. It is very much appreciated. Hope you guys enjoy! Xx**_

**BRAX'S POV:**

Charlie fell asleep in my arms, hours ago, while we were still sitting on the couch. Leah and VJ were home in bed – neither of them particularly impressed with the state of the house, despite Charlie's efforts to clean it. I knew Leah had never really approved of Charlie being with me; I used to think that it was none of her business, but when our relationship was the reason being fear being brought into her home, I guess it kind of became her business.

I was close to drifting off to sleep myself, until I heard a noise outside. Normally the sound of rustling leaves and branches wouldn't put me on edge, but after everything Charlie has been through recently, I don't want to take any chances. I leave her on the lounge and head over to the window; I peer out, but see nothing in the darkness. I quickly check on Ruby, who is sound asleep; VJ and Leah likewise. Charlie remains asleep on the lounge as I tiptoe my way around the house, checking every corner before I head outside, locking the door behind me, just to be safe.

Pocketing the key, I move around to the side of the house. There's nothing and nobody there, and there's no one around the back; no cat or possum or any other kind of animal, and no human being. But there is no breeze blowing either – no reason for the leaves to have been rustling. I can't shake the feeling pressing down on my shoulders, the feeling that something is not right, and as I head back around to the front door, my feelings are given reason. A hooded figure runs at me – from which direction I can't tell – and slams me into the side of the house. Whoever it is, is strong, obviously a male; I struggle with him, trying not to breathe in his putrid alcohol breath, and eventually I manage to get him pressed up against the wall. I pull down his hood, and am genuinely surprised by who I see.

'You,' is all I can say. 'What the bloody hell are you doing here?'

'Surprised to see me, Braxton?' Jake Pirovic spits back at me, a nasty smile spreading across his lips. I push into him harder.

'How the hell did you get out of jail?' I ask, my voice lowered. I do not want to wake up Charlie, or anyone else for that matter. Jake does not share the same mindset.

His voice loud, he says, 'Wouldn't you like to know.' He laughs, finding some amusement in his being here that I am apparently missing.

'It was you that trashed the place wasn't it? Huh? Was it because we got your brother put in the slammer with ya?' My voice is still quiet. 'I would've thought you'd want to stay with him while he's in there. You just know he's not gonna last in there.'

Jake laughs again. 'Wouldn't it be a shame if your precious Sergeant Buckton got woken up by us? I guess I'd better whisper too, huh? Hey, wouldn't it be a shame if anything bad were to happen to her...again?'

I release my hold on him, and push him against the wall one last time, taking a few steps back afterwards. 'What's your game, Pirovic?'

'That's for me to know, and for you to wish you knew,' he says. 'But know this – you put my brother in jail, and you're right, he probably won't last very long in there. So I'm going to make sure that the person you care about most doesn't last very long either.'

'Are you threatening me, Jake? Coz I really don't think you want to be doing that.'

He laughs. 'It's more of a promise than a threat.'

With one last laugh, he steps away from the house and closer towards me, before walking off down the street. If he thinks I'm scared of him, he's got another thing coming. There's no way I'm going to let him hurt Charlie.

I go back inside the house and find Charlie, thankfully, still asleep on the couch; she looks so peaceful. I pick her up off the couch, cradling her in my arms – this, unfortunately, wakes her up.

'Mmmm ... Brax?' she says drowsily.

'Hey, Charles,' I say quietly.

'What's going on?'

'Nothing, I just thought you'd be more comfortable in your bed than on that old couch,' I say. She doesn't need to know anything else.

I get up early in the morning; leave a note next to Charlie's bed, saying I'm going surfing, and that I would be back soon.

I head to my house, seeking out Heath. He is asleep, and although he is going to kill me, I decide to wake him up.

"HEATH!" I shake his shoulders whilst screaming at him... I didn't have time for this. I needed his help, and I needed it now!

"WHAT?" he screams back, getting madder by the second. "What the hell do you want! I'm trying to sleep!"

"I need your help", I say, my voice becoming calmer, "Jake's back"

Heath sits up straight away, processing my words...

"How is that possible!"He asks, "He's supposed to be in jail"

"I know. I don't know how he got out, but he's out, and he trashed Charlies' house. He came over last night saying that he was out for revenge. We need to get him before he gets us, and Charlie can't know about this... she's been through enough"

He nods knowingly. "Anything you need me to do... I'm in"

**CHARLIE's POV:**

I wake up to an empty bed. I begin to wonder where he has gone, until I see his note. I decide that while he is gone I will have a shower and try to clean up the house a bit more. I feel horrible that Leah and VJ have been pulled in to our drama.

Before I know it, I have had my shower and am cleaning up the kitchen when I hear Brax return. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me. We stay in the hug for a while, before I hear a knock at the door.

I open the door to see Watson and Joyce standing in their blue police uniforms with serious faces on. I soon realise this is no social visit.

"Hey what's up?" I say, as Brax makes his way into the living room as to not be seen by my colleagues.

"We know who trashed your house" Watson tells me. "May we come in?"

I open the door to show my answer. They join me in the kitchen as we talk.

"We found a fingerprint, and it was matched to Jake Pirovic" says Joyce.

I am absolutely gobsmacked. "He was supposed to be in jail... how could this be?"

"He escaped from jail yesterday. What we would like to know Charlie, is why is he going after you?" Joyce asks the one question I didn't know I could answer.

'Uh...um...BRAX!' I call him to join us. This is the easiest way to explain it to them. Brax slowly walks into the kitchen with his head down. 'You're not going to want to hear this, but we have been seeing each other for the past few months,' I confess to my workmates.

'Oh...' says Watson, sounding a little disappointed in me.

Brax smiles awkwardly. 'Officers,' he greets them in his usual way.

There is a moment of awkward silence, which, thankfully, Joyce breaks. 'Mister Braxton,' he says, extending the 'm', 'would you mind stepping outside with me for a moment?'

Brax looks quickly at me, and then at Joyce. 'Sure, no problem,' he says, and they both head outside. This leaves Watson and I alone.

She does not look impressed, to say the least.

'Please, don't hate me for this,' I say to her.

'What on earth are you thinking?' she asks, taking off her hat. 'Dating a River Boy? When did this start? Where did this even come from?'

'Ahh, it's complicated...'

'You're damn right it's complicated! How many times has he been a suspect in our cases?' she asks me. 'How many times have his mates been suspects? How many times have those boys gone to him to get them off of charges? Charlie, this is insane!'

'I know, I know, believe me, I do,' I say, searching for a way to try to help her to understand. 'Don't you think I've gone over it a thousand times in my mind? How wrong it is, how we shouldn't be doing this?'

'Again, you're right. It is wrong. But if you know this, then why are you still with him?'

'Because...I love him,' I say. Watson rolls her eyes. 'Seriously. Without him...I don't know where I would be right now.'

'Right.'

'I went through the hardest time in my life recently, and he is the reason I've pulled through it,' I tell her. 'He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel like no one else ever has...Please Watson...try to understand.'

'I am trying. Really, really hard...'

'I've never been happier than I am with him,' I tell her.

She doesn't seem to understand, but eventually she lets go of her hard exterior and relaxes a bit. 'Well,' she says, putting her hat back on. 'I guess if he makes you happy...then I approve.'

I smile, and she smiles, and we hug.

**BRAX's POV**:

'So what seems to be the problem, officer?' I say, as casually as possible.

'Cut the crap, Braxton,' he says, rather harshly, considering I haven't actually done anything, and this is just a casual conversation. 'While I may not approve of your relationship with Sergeant Buckton, I don't much care for it at all right now.'

'Ouch.'

'The most important thing here is her safety,' Joyce continues.

'I couldn't agree more.'

'Now, I know you know something about this Pirovic situation,' he says.

'What makes you think that?'

He ignores me, and goes on. 'Whatever it is you do know, you need to tell me now. Pirovic is very dangerous, and I think you know that as well as I. We need to keep Sergeant Buckton safe, especially after everything she's already been through...which I'm guessing is somewhat because of you.'

'Charlie,' I say. 'Her name's Charlie.'

He looks unimpressed. 'What do you know?'

I sigh. 'Pirovic was here last night.'

'And?'

I tell him what happened, and we discuss things further.

**CHARLIE's POV:**

Brax and Joyce come back into the room, only for Joyce and Watson to leave again.

'We'll be in touch,' Joyce says, not exactly looking at me.

Once they have gone I turn to Brax... 'I don't know if you heard...but it was Jake who trashed the place," I say to him, expecting a reaction from him, but I get nothing. He just says "oh", and looks away. It's almost as if he already knew...

"You knew about this didn't you!" I say, when he doesn't speak, I know his answer. My voice is gradually getting louder. "You knew and you didn't tell me! I thought we were going to be honest with each other? But you're still lying to me!" tears start falling down my face, as I run to my room and slam the door. I can't believe this!

_**Hope you guys liked it, please review! We'll update soon :) **_


	17. Chapter 17

**BRAX's POV:**

Knowing that it is no use trying to talk to Charlie when she's upset with me, I leave the house in search of Heath. I make my way down to the beach and see him coming out of the surf with his board. I race up to him.

"Hey, we need to talk" I say in a serious tone. He notices this, and places his board down in the sand.

"Is this about what we were talking about yesterday" He asks me. I nod, and proceed to tell him about last night's events, and explain to him what his part involves.

'although he isn't happy about what i've asked him to do, he agrees to do it. As soon as he leaves, I set my plan in motion. I pull my mobile phone out of my pocket, and head up the beach a little way.

'Jake,' I say, after a few seconds of dial tone, 'we need to meet.'

**CHARLIE's POV:**

I am in no mood for visitors. But someone won't quit knocking at the front door. Annoyed, I rush over to answer it, if only to tell the persistent knocker to go away.

To my surprise, it is Heath that is standing in the threshold.

I roll my eyes. 'Brax is not here.' I go to slam the door in his undeservedly smug face, but he holds his arm out and stops me.

'I'm not here to see him,' he says, ducking under my arm and letting himself into the house. He heads straight for the fridge.

'By all means Heath, come right in.'

Ignoring me, Heath goes on to say, 'He ahh, he actually sent me here.' He closes the fridge, empty handed. 'To check up on you. Hey, do you have any beer?'

Frustrated, I slam the door shut. 'No! We do not have any beer! Heath, why did Brax send you here?'

He shrugs. 'Beats me. I don't even know why he keeps hanging around here if you don't even have any alcohol. I don't understand what the draw is...'

'Heath! Will you please just go? I'm not in the mood for this.'

'Sorry, I promised Brax I'd stay here and look after you.'

'I don't need looking after.'

'Don't try to render me useless.

I'm growing more than impatient; I think Heath finally sees this. 'Look, Brax only sent me here because he knew you didn't want to see him, and he doesn't want you to be alone right now.' Apparently he hasn't seen it. 'Trust me, there are a thousand other places I'd rather be right now than stuck in a house with a p-m-s-ive you.'

'Do you think maybe there's a reason I didn't want to see Brax right now?'

'Of course there's a reason, but I just don't really care.'

'Then why are you here?'

'I already told you why.'

'Yeah, right, because Brax told you,' I say, rolling my eyes again. 'If he cared so much about me, then he wouldn't have – '

' – I don't want to hear it,' Heath interrupts me. 'Brax has done so much for you over the last few days – Charlie, he quit being a River Boy for you. And for what? So you could jump down his throat the second he does something you don't exactly agree with?'

'He lied to me about Jake breaking in! He knew it was him and he didn't tell me!'

'Yeah, because he wanted to protect you – in fact, that's all he ever seems to want to do these days. God only knows why. So why don't you get off your high horse and give the guy a break, and see what he's trying to do for you.'

I am completely shocked by what he's just said to me. He has no right to talk to me in that way! Especially not in my own house!

He then heads into the lounge room as if nothing has happened, sitting himself down on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table and turning the TV on. You'd think he lived here. 'Got any pretzels?'

I am disgusted with him.

But maybe he did have a point.

BRAX's POV:

I wait in the secluded area for Jake to arrive. I came early to scope the place out, make sure I wasn't being set up. Finally, after about 15 minutes of waiting, I see Jakes car drive up the dirt road towards mine.

He gets out of the car and makes his way towards me.

"Brax..." he says as he makes his way towards me. "why am I here?"

" you are here Jake, because I told you to come" I say as I make my way closer to him and stare into his eyes "this thing with Charlie, trashing her place, threatening her life, it is going to stop... now"

"Darryl, Darryl, Darryl." He says as he takes a step back to give himself personal space. "you don't intimidate me... at all. And this 'thing' with Charlie will stop when she is DEAD. Yes, you heard... DEAD!" he smiles at me, and I am on the verge of losing control when I hear the police sirens sound as the squad draws closer.

I see the look on Jakes' face as he prepares to leave. I realise what he is about to do and pounce onto him, tackling him to the ground.

"No mate, you're not going anywhere". I say as we wrestle.

Suddenly he gains the upper hand on me and pulls out a knife. By the time the police arrive, I am in a headlock with a knife to my throat, with police with guns pointed at me surrounding me. This is not going like I thought it would. This is why you don't work with cops, I think to myself.

"POLICE! Put the weapon down!" Joyce yells, still pointing his gun, but still Jake refuses to let me or the knife go.

"Goodbye Darryl" he whispers in my ear as he swiftly draws the knife closer to my neck. Joyce quickly realises what is happening, and BANG!


	18. Chapter 18

**BRAX'S POV**

I get the sensation that I'm falling – light whirs around me, but amongst the blur, I see Charlie. Her beautiful eyes, her smile...nothing really different from any other time I close my eyes. I hear muffled voices, the sound of fast-moving feet and road gravel crunching beneath them. I swear that I can also hear my own heart pumping. Everything is all slowed down, and for some reason, it takes me a while to realise what the hell is going on around me, and then it dawns on me that I have actually fallen down.

I blink a few times, a blurry image coming into focus before my eyes. It's not Charlie, but Watson, bending down over me, calling out my name.

'Mr Braxton!' she says. 'Are you hurt?' In the background I hear one of the other officers radioing in for an ambulance. I hope it's not for me. 'Mr Braxton!' Watson yells again. Other faces appear around hers. 'I think the bullet got him...' she says quietly to one of the officers, or maybe it was just at a normal volume. I can't really be sure.

I start to sit up, finally able to feel the ground beneath me. I look over my shoulder as Watson and the other officers move back, giving me some space. Jake Pirovic is lying on the ground, the knife he'd once held to my throat knocked to the side of the road, a hole in his chest seeping out blood.

'God damn...' I say to myself, finally understanding what's happened. I realise that Watson is again asking me if I'm alright, if I've been hurt, and finally it occurs to me that I have been, but not so severely that I need to be taken away in an ambulance. How humiliating would that be.

'I'm fine,' I say finally. 'I'm fine, really. The bullet just, I dunno, grazed me.' She persists that I should stay still until I can get my pitiful battle scar looked at, but I ignore her. The blatant disregard for authority I show in doing so is just the River Boy in me coming through.

'Is he...' I start to say, and then Watson answers my question before I even have a chance to answer it.

'He's dead,' she says. 'Joyce saw the knife, and he acted. So yeah, he's dead.'

I look over at Joyce, who is standing not too far away. 'You're welcome,' he says to me.

It's a little anticlimactic for me that in the end it was the cops who finally got their hands on Jake, and not me. The sound of ambulance sirens becomes louder as reality becomes clearer, little by little. The one thing I know for sure now is that Charlie's nightmare is finally over.

**HEATH's POV:**

I'm sitting watching the game, still in Charlie's house bored out of my mind. After our little so called 'argument' Charlie had retreated to her room. I didn't want to know what the hell she was doing in there. Brax better have had a really good reason for making me stay here. There is no alcohol in this house and Charlie is getting on my nerves!

Suddenly my phone rings, an unknown number. I answer it, not knowing who it was or what they wanted...

**CHARLIE's POV:**

Sitting in my room alone staring at the ceiling I think about what Heath had to say. He kind of had a point. I made him say goodbye to his family. I made him change who he was, I should be thankful for all he has done for me.

I kinda felt bad leaving heath alone in the lounge room, but I really wasn't in the mood for any of his antics. Suddenly I heard a knock at the door, and knowing that both Leah and Ruby where out, I concluded that it was Heath.

"Whatever it is heath I don't cares... leave me alone!" I shout rather rudely... I know I shouldn't be acting like this, but he was just really getting on my nerves.

"Charlie let me in! I need to talk to you! It's about Brax... he's been hurt!" my heart sank. I quickly ran to the door and opened it, tears about to fall down my face.

"is... is... is he alright?" I say, now bawling my eyes out. I had been so awful to him the last time I spoke to him... what if he was badly injured... what if he was dying? The worst possible outcomes were running through my head. "Heath please tell me he is okay!"

"Charlie calm down" he says placing a comforting hand on my shoulder he says, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder, which, in all honesty, feels a little weird, considering we're not exactly friends "He has been shot - "

"Oh my god! We have to go to the hospital now! I scream at heath,

"CHARLIE LISTEN!" he screams back, which startles me. I stare up at him waiting for him to tell me what is so important.

"It was just a graze okay; you're getting worked up over nothing! But yes, I'll take you to go and see him in the hospital" he says as he goes in search of his keys.

BRAX's POV:

I'm sitting on one of the beds getting my arm checked out by Sid when I see Charlie rush in. I'm shocked to see her, especially since I specifically told Heath not to tell her. I should've known he wouldn't keep his mouth shut.

Sid finishes patching up my arm and goes to find my discharge papers. Charlie quickly runs over to me and hugs me, carefully avoiding my injured arm.

"I was so worried about you! I'm so sorry for how I've been acting! I don't know what I would have done if something were to happen to you!" she says, her words speeding up, she was obviously about to cry. I use my uninjured arm to cup her face, forcing her to look directly into my eyes.

'Charlie, I'm fine. You don't have to get upset, I promise you I'm fine, and you have nothing to apologise for...I love you!'

She smiles at me in that way that she does, before passionately kissing me. Once again I feel like the whole world has slowed down around me. I forget everything that is going on, I can no longer feel any pain in my arm or anywhere else for that matter. For a moment I forget everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours, and even before that.

Everything is a blur, except for Charlie. But again, that's pretty much how it always is, and I hope that's how it always will be. I live for the moments when it's just she and I, when nothing else matters but her. It's been a long time since Charlie's actually held me back like this, and I hope the moment never ends.

'Oi! Get a room you two!' a demanding voice shouts. 'Or...or a different room!' I open my eyes, as does Charlie, and we look to see Heath heading out of the room. 'Disgusting...No one wants to see that!'

Charlie and I both laugh. Of course it was too much to hope for.

'Just so you know,' Charlie says suddenly, 'I love you too.'


	19. Chapter 19

**HEATH'S POV**

It's been three days since all the crap happened with Brax and Buckton, three days since Pirovic's death. I would have liked to have gotten my hands on the scumbag myself, but instead I was babysitting a paranoid cop; I'll just have to settle for killing Brax instead, seeing as he's the one who got me the babysitting gig in the first place.

As I head towards the diner, I can hear the ever cheerful sound of Colleen Smart's voice, off on another one of her gossiping tangents that nobody cares about I suppose. The woman hasn't stopped to take a breath since she got wind of the shootout between the cops and Pirovic, and Brax. As I step inside, the old woman looks at me for two seconds before she rolls her eyes. That has to be some kind of record.

"Ohhhhhh, just what we need, more trouble!" Colleen cries, hurrying to busy herself with something so that she doesn't have to serve me, which is just fine by me.

"And good morning to you too Mrs Smart," I greet her with a casual smile.

"If you were genuine in wishing me a good morning, as you so often do, then you'd stop visiting the Diner altogether!" She rushes off, two plates in hand.

"Sorry about her," Leah says to me from behind the counter. "What can I get you?"

"Three coffees," I order, and she gets to work.

"How's Brax?" she asks me.

"You know it's funny, because I was actually going to ask you the same question. I wouldn't know, because I haven't really seen much of him since the shootout. He's been too busy with ... well ... you know."

"Believe me, it's not by choice that I have him under my roof so often," she says without looking up. "If it were up to me, he wouldn't be around there at all. I'm _still_ cleaning up from the other night..." Just as I am about to say something dirty to that, Colleen comes back. Because I have the utmost respect for her, of course I restrain myself.

"Of course, the real question is, why was the shootout necessary?" she says. Apparently, she'd still been ranting as she'd walked away. "How do our local law enforcers lose track of such a dangerous criminal? I'm beginning to wonder about the integrity of this town, not to mention its safety. And it's all because of troublemakers like you!"

"Colleen!" Leah shouts, handing me the coffees, as I hand her the money. As the old woman disappears into the kitchen, where she's actually out of earshot, Leah says to me through gritted teeth, "Of course, the shootout really wouldn't have been necessary if the two of them had just come clean about their relationship. It's what got them into trouble in the first place."

"You're preaching to the choir," I tell her. "Thanks for the coffees."

As I head out of the diner, I hear Colleen start up again about how much trouble the boys and I have bought to the bay and something about fighting and guns and who knows what else. The thing that catches my attention though is the group of ugly brutes standing just around the corner. They eye me troublesomely...I think they want something from me – but then, who doesn't?

"You're scaring away the customers!" I shout out. They smile – I have that affect on people – the ugliest smiles I think I've ever seen. They quite obviously belong to Pirovic's gang.

"Funny, Braxton," one of them says to me. "Where's your brother?"

"Don't know. I'm sending out a search party this afternoon, although I don't think we're going to have any luck. If you clever fellas don't know where he is then I guess there's no chance for the rest of us finding him."

"The guy's got jokes," he says to his mates. "Well, when you find him, give him a message for us. Let him know that icing Jake solved nothing."

"That wasn't some pathetic attempt at a threat, was it boys?"

"Look at that – funny and smart."

"And incredibly handsome. You forgot incredibly handsome." The boys laugh to themselves, before finally stepping aside to let me pass them.

I've decided that I'm now definitely going to kill Brax myself.

**CHARLIE'S POV**

As I lay snuggled close to Brax, my mind drifts back to everything that has happened in the last few weeks, and it makes me quite happy that he and I are still strong. Thinking back I realise that we could've avoided this mess if we had have just come clean with our relationship and dealt with it then and there. But no, I forced Brax to keep us a secret. He wanted to come clean, but I wouldn't have it. I can't help but feel partially responsible for the loss, tears, and bloodshed. I look over at Brax sleeping peacefully. I kiss him lightly on the forehead before getting up from under his grasp. I need to go for a run I think, clear my head. As I run down the beach, I realise that to keep my family and friends safe, we have to come clean. I panic slightly at the thought of how people will take the news. Still, I know it's what must happen,

I turn home to tell Brax.

I walk into the house puffing heavily from my exercise, and am shocked to see Brax and Heath chatting in the lounge room. The conversation doesn't exactly seem happy.

'Hey babe, I didn't think you would be awake when I came back. Heath, what are you doing here?' I ask as Heath hands me the third coffee sitting on the table in front of him.

Cutting to the chase, Heath blurts out, 'You two need to come clean about your relationship. This crap's gone on for long enough!"

As Heath gets all worked up, all I can do is choke on my words. 'I -' I begin to tell him that I feel the same way, when he cuts me off. '

"Don't give me excuses about why you need to keep it a secret! This is ridiculous! You need to come clean!' he is beginning to get very angry. Brax can sense his brother's fury and steps in before things get out of hand.

"Easy bro, you need to calm down!' he yells and they begin to argue.

I am losing patience. If I could just get a word in, I would be able to stop the fight by telling them that I agree, but they are too busy senselessly yelling at each other.

Eventually I just lose it. 'ENOUGH!' I yell, and finally the boys stop, looking at me with identically shocked and confused faces. 'If you two would stop fighting like 3 year olds for just one second, I would be able to tell you that I agree. We need to come clean.'

**BRAX'S POV**

I cannot believe what Charlie has just said.

'Charls – are you sure about this?' I ask her, and she looks at me as if the answer to that should be blatantly obvious.

'We're not the only ones who have been hurt by this secret,' she says. 'It's obvious we're putting other peoples' lives in danger by keeping this to ourselves.'

'I wouldn't go that far – ' I start to argue, but she cuts me off. In arguments, she only really does that when she's made up her mind about something.

' – I would. It was Leah's house that got trashed – Our secret put her, her son, and my daughter in danger. Okay? Casey could be next, for all we know.'

'Casey can take care of himself,' Heath says. Idiot. He still has to argue something even when someone is on his side.

'But others can't,' Charlie says, looking straight at me. Her eyes are glassy and pleading. I wanted to be straight about this from the beginning, and now it's as if I'm the one keeping her from telling the world. That's what I wanted most of all – to tell the world that she was my girlfriend – while all she wanted was to hide it. 'It's just better if we tell people,' she says. 'I don't know how we're going to ... but we don't have any other option.'

I nod. 'I know,' I say, and I pull her in for a hug.

In the corner of my eye, I see Heath roll his eyes. 'You know you could start with Colleen,' he says without looking at us. 'I'm sure she'd be more than happy to tell the world your little secret.'

Even Charlie laughs at his little joke. 'Alright,' she says, 'I'm going to go and have a shower.' She kisses me on the cheek. 'Thanks for the coffee, Heath,' she says, with what could almost have passed for a smile. She never smiles at Heath. I don't think my brother knows what to make of it, because when Charlie is gone, he looks at me with an expression of incredulity.

'I'm pretty sure Hell just froze over,' I say to him, 'because you two just agreed with each other on something.'

'Yeah, well, now that she's gone bro, I need to tell you something else,' he says, sounding serious.

'What, have you got an opinion on something else that's none of your business?'

'You guys made your relationship my business when you asked me to keep it a secret from people – the same secret that almost got the both of you killed. I'm glad that it didn't, because that means now I get to kill you, but – '

'Get to the point, Heath,' I interrupt him, before he forgets what he has to say. I wouldn't put it past him to do that.

'When I left the diner,' he says, 'some of Pirovic's boys were outside waiting for me.'

'What'd they want?' I ask. If this is spelling out more trouble, then I have no time for fooling around. I can't put Charlie through any more danger.

'They had a message for you,' he continues. 'They said that Pirovic's death didn't solve anything.'

I think about this for a second. Obviously the message is an indirect threat – I've heard and given enough of them in my time to know what they sound like. Almost out of habit, I start to think of ways we could retaliate to that – and then I remember that I quit the River Boys. 'Well, they don't know about the relationship between Charlie and I, do they?' I ask.

'How the heck would I know?' Heath asks.

'They couldn't ... Jake wouldn't have had time to tell them ... Hammer's out of the picture...' Surely they don't know ... surely they're not going to hurt Charlie again ... There's no way I'll let them if that's what they're planning on.

'You know, not everything is about the two of you,' Heath scoffs, sounding disgusted. 'Kay, you're probably right – they probably had no idea about you two being together, and if I had to guess, I'd say they wouldn't particularly care even if they did know. What they would care about is the death of their leader – you got Jake killed. That means the Boys got Jake killed, which means they're going to come after _us._'

'I'm not one of you guys anymore,' I remind him.

'Yeah, yeah, so you keep saying,' Heath says. 'Believe that all you want, because Jake's boys aren't. And _your _boys aren't gonna care – if this fight is against you, then it's against all of us. Blood and sand.'

He looks at me intently, and I know that he is right. No matter how far away I get from the Boys, and despite the best efforts of certain members in the last few months, I know they will always be at my flanks. If Jake's gang wants a fight, then that's what they're going to get, whether I'm involved or not. That's just the life.

I just don't know how I'm going to tell Charlie.


	20. Chapter 20

**CHARLIE'S POV**

When I got out of the shower, both Brax and Heath were gone. A note had been left on the fridge by Brax, telling me he'd be back soon, but there was no other information than that. After everything that's happened recently, I can't help but be worried by his vagueness.

With the boys gone, though, I decide I might as well get started with the arduous task of telling the world about mine and Brax's relationship. I know at first that I wanted to keep it as low-key as possible, but it's blatantly obvious that that has since done more harm than good. Secrets are what got us hurt, and what ended the lives of 2 people, and mine and Brax's child. I touch my stomach absently, thinking about what could have been.

I push the thoughts aside just as quickly as they come to me. Even after everything, these thoughts are the most painful.

'Hello?' a familiar voice calls out from the porch. I head into the kitchen to see Bianca standing in the doorway. She got here faster than I thought she would.

'Hey,' I greet her. 'Come in.'

'I wanted to stop by sooner but I wasn't sure if you'd be up for seeing anyone,' Bianca says, taking a few awkward steps forward. I realise she doesn't actually know everything that's happened, and I wonder if I should tell her the whole truth, or just about Brax and I. I suppose that if I do the latter, she'll have a thousand questions relating to the former that I won't be able to ignore. With all of this running through my mind, I almost miss what Bianca says next.

'So how are you?' she asks, leaning on the countertop.

'Aaah, I'm okay now,' I tell her. 'Tea? Coffee?'

'Tea would be lovely...' I busy myself with this, and there is silence between us, until Bianca finally says, 'I'm guessing you didn't just call me over here for tea, though. On the phone you sounded as though you had something really urgent to tell me.'

I turn around to finally look at her. 'I do,' I say. 'I actually have a whole lot to tell you. And you're probably not going to want to hear most of it. But I need to tell you.'

Bianca looks slightly afraid, but nevertheless, she smiles and says, 'No matter what, I'm here for you.' I smile at her, and after I've finished making tea for the both of us, we head into the lounge room and take a seat. Bianca sits at one end of the couch and I sit at the other, both of us with our shoes off and our legs bent up, resting against the back of the couch.

I don't even know where to begin.

'I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you,' I say slowly, struggling with even those words. 'About what's happened to me in the last three months...I actually haven't been particularly honest with anyone, and I've been expecting other people to keep up with my dishonesty, and it's just ... I need to stop being so unfair.'

'Charlie...' Bianca says, sounding concerned.

I press on. 'For a while now...I have been seeing Brax.' Her eyes widen as I deliver the blow.

'Darryl Braxton?' she asks.

'Yes.'

'Darryl Braxton,' she says again, her eyebrows raised. 'River Boy, Darryl Braxton...'

'Not anymore,' I say quickly. 'He quit, for me.'

Bianca laughs. 'Yeah, right.'

'I was a bit sceptical at first too ... but after everything that's happened, I really don't think he'll ever go back to his River Boy ways.' It is at this point that I start telling her the truth about everything that's happened to Brax and I - the kidnapping, Tegan, Riley, Brodie's death, Hammer's involvement, Jake's revenge, the shootout...the baby. While none of it really makes any sense, I have to believe that, to her, the reasons behind my being in a mental institution for three months made slightly more sense. I explain that our being together was the primary reason behind all of it, and that we can't risk putting ourselves or anyone else in danger by keeping it a secret anymore.

Bianca is lost for words, and who would blame her?

'I can't...' she says, struggling with herself. 'I don't...I don't understand...Why – How could you have kept this a secret for so long?' she asks finally.

I realise that I don't really have an answer for her.

'Not just the relationship..._everything_...' I realise she hasn't drunken any of her tea since I began to recount the events of the last three months. '...Does Ruby know?'

'Yes,' I say. 'Ruby's known for a while. So have Casey, Heath and Leah.'

'Hmm...Well thank God for that.'

'Please don't be upset with me for not telling you...I don't think I could take it.'

'I'm not upset, Charlie...but what did you expect? When you said you hadn't been completely honest...I mean, I never could have guessed...'

'I guess I was just kind of hoping for your friendship and your support,' I say, feeling my voice shake as tears well up in my eyes. 'I mean, you did say not thirty minutes ago that you would be here for me no matter what.'

Bianca takes a deep breath. 'And I am here for you. Just not one hundred percent.'

**BRAX'S POV:**

I am driving in my newly repaired ute, worrying about how everyone will take the news of our deception. What troubles me more is the question of whether or not Jake's gang knows about mine and Charlie's relationship, and whether they would act as Hammer and Jake had if they found out the news. The suspense is truly killing me. I speed up a little bit, hurrying to get to the house of the only one that will be able to set my mind at ease.

I wonder if Charlie will be mad at me for not talking to her about my concerns, about the threats that Heath told me about, or about where I'm headed. Sure, I left her a note, but I know it's not really enough.

Soon, I arrive at my destination. I get out of the car, but for some reason I become hesitant. Is this really the best thing to do? Will it help? After a few minutes of standing out the front of the house, I decide that this _is_ my best option. It's really my only option.

I walk up to the door, knock on it, and wait for an answer. I know for a fact that this is not going to be a pleasant conversation. The door opens slowly, and a guy I'd once called my friend stands there, bewildered, apparently shocked to see me. Here we go, I think to myself...

'Can I come in?' I ask.


	21. Chapter 21

**Brax's POV**

Hesitantly, Riley steps aside to let me in.

'What are you doing here, Brax?' he asks me, eyeing me off suspiciously as he closes the door behind me. His house is a mess; it looks as if he hasn't left it in days.

'I'm not here to clean your place, if that's what you were hoping,' I say, trying to lighten the noticeably heavy mood, but Riley doesn't take it. He just stares at me, wondering. I clear my throat and start again. 'I ahh, I need to talk to you, mate,' I say, 'about something important.'

'You wouldn't even speak to me at Brodie's funeral,' he scoffs, looking disgusted. 'Even though he died trying to save your girlfriend from Hammer.'

'Let's not forget he was also part of the reason Hammer was there in the first place,' I quickly remind him. His resulting stare could have killed me had I not shamefully looked away. He was right. I hadn't spoken to him at Brodie's funeral, nor had I spoken to him since, despite the fact that Brodie had lost his life trying to protect Charlie. But even in death I can't forgive him for what he put her through in the first place, nor can I forgive Riley. Or Tegan for that matter, who I had forgotten about until this point.

I sigh. 'Okay, just listen to what I have to say. I figure you owe me that much.'

Riley says nothing. He just nods once in silent agreement.

'You haven't...told anyone, have you?'

'What?'

'About Charlie and I being together?'

Riley laughs. 'Your dirty little secret's not unravelling, is it?' he asks, his voice mocking. I can't believe him.

'Did you tell anyone or not?' I ask, growing impatient. I hadn't expected this conversation to be pleasant, but this was turning out to be worse than I'd imagined.

Riley sits down on the couch, amongst piles of clothes and other mess, putting his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. 'Does it look like I've been anywhere recently?' he asks.

'You could have told someone else before – '

'I take it you haven't spoken to any of the other Boys about this?' he interrupts me. 'No, that's right, you left the River Boys. So I guess that means you haven't spoken to any of them about this at all.' Neither of us say anything for a moment. I'm beginning to think that coming here was a bad idea. But then, suddenly, Riley sighs, and looks at me with eyes that, finally, aren't full of spite. 'I didn't tell anyone. I never wanted to be in on...what happened with the cop – '

'Charlie,' I say quickly. 'Her name's Charlie.'

'Whatever. I never wanted to get involved, I never wanted to get Hammer involved, I knew we were out of our minds to do what we did. And I regret doing it every second. The point is, I didn't tell anyone. Brodie didn't get the chance, and it was his idea in the first place, so I didn't think it was my place to tell people.'

I can tell he's being sincere. Despite his wacked-out reasoning behind it, I am confident that Riley really hasn't told anyone.

'Thank you, Riley,' I say finally. 'Can I count on you not to say anything now?'

'Are you telling me you still haven't told anyone? After all that's happened? I heard what happened with Jake...' He sounds genuinely surprised, and maybe even a bit...concerned?

'Not yet,' I tell him. 'But we're working on it. You're right. Too much has happened for us not to.' I start heading for the door. 'Hey. Get yourself out of this dump. I may not be a River Boy anymore, but you still are. Brodie would want you to get back out there.'

Riley just smiles.

'I can't,' he says, and he points down to his ankle. There's a black ankle monitor strapped around it. So he got house arrest for what he did. I can't help but feel that this punishment is just a bit too light. Nevertheless I nod in understanding, and head out the door.

I thought that speaking to him about this would bring me closure. I thought that, if he had been the one to tell Jake's boys, then I could have kicked his ass and felt better. I also thought that if, as it turned out, he wasn't the one to tell them, then I would have felt even better than if he had have been the one to tell them. But as I head back to my car now, I feel no greater sense of security and no less worried than I did when I arrived on Riley's doorstep.

The same question remains – do Jake's boys know about Charlie and I? And if they do, what are they planning?

**Charlie's POV:**

I understand Bianca's response to my secret, but it doesn't mean that I like it. Bianca is my best friend, and I betrayed her trust. I feel horrible about lying to her this whole time. I hope I haven't lost her for good. I don't think I could handle any more loss in my life.

As I sit at home now, alone, a million things run through my mind. Would things have played out differently if I had just been up front with Bianca to begin with? What if we were up front with everyone? Is Brax hiding something from me?

Just as I begin thinking about Brax, I hear a knock on the door.

My heart skips a beat as I think it might be him. I hop off the couch and run for the door, desperate for one of his hugs. When he holds me in his arms, it's like that's the world, and nothing else exists, and nothing else matters. As I open the door, my heart nearly stops this time, because who I see standing on the threshold is someone I never would have expected to see again.

She smiles at me, as if she is happy to see me, as if this was a casual, friendly visit.

'Tegan!' I gasp. A zillion flashbacks of her start zipping through my head – the kidnapping, how she had me tied up, her slaps and hits, the way she had basically professed her love for Brax, though not in specific phrasing.

'Sergeant Buckton,' she says, her voice like knives, ripping through my ears. 'You're looking well.'

'What are you doing here?' I exclaim, actually feeling the look of exasperation that must be plain on my face.

She tilts her head to the side. 'I thought it was time we spoke,' she says. 'Don't worry – this chat won't be like our last.'

She moves to step into the house, but I step forward, blocking her. 'We won't be having any sort of chat at all,' I say sternly. 'Get the hell out of here! What were you thinking coming over here? Did you think I'd just open the door for you? That we'd hug it out and I'd just _forgive _you for what you did?'

'What makes you think I'm here for forgiveness?' she asks, and I am lost for words.

'I honestly don't know,' I say finally, stepping backwards. I start to close the door, but Tegan pushes it back, intent on either talking to me or coming inside.

'Charlie, wait,' she says, her arm up against the door. 'I didn't come here for forgiveness, because I know you wouldn't give it to me.'

'You're damn right.'

'But I did come to apologise.'

'You should be in jail for what you did,' I say. 'You were an accomplice in the kidnapping! You assaulted me!'

'I know,' she says. 'I don't know what came over me. I – I'm sorry for what I did.'

'Sorry doesn't make it okay!'

'But it makes me feel a little better.' Even though she's apologising to me, for what she did to me, the whole thing is still about her, just like everything else is.

'You're not forgiven, Tegan. I don't know what you were expecting for me, coming over here, but – '

'I was expecting a liiiiittle better than this from you, I have to admit.'

'Better from me? I've been through hell in the last three months, Tegan! Because of what you and the others did! I was in a psych house because of what you had a hand in! You should have been arrested and charged!'

'What's going on here?' a familiar voice asks, and Brax comes into view. Thank God. 'Tegan, what the hell are you doing here?'

Tegan eases off, tiny beside Brax.

'I just...wanted to apologise to Charlie,' she says softly. 'And to talk to you.'

I roll my eyes. 'Always an ulterior motive,' I say.

'What do you want?' Brax asks. My comment seems to go unnoticed.

'Umm...I'd rather talk...in...in private.' When before she was demanding and strong, now she seems weak and pathetic, the way I've always thought she was.

'Charlie...' Brax looks at me, as if asking for permission to talk to her. I kind of can't believe it.

'Whatever,' I say. 'She's already pretty much told me how she feels about you, maybe she plans to let you know now too.'

Brax looks confused, but I don't care. I close the door, leaving the two of them alone.


End file.
